The Book of Endings
by Uskius
Summary: A series of shorts illustrating many possible endings for Naruto. "The shuddering breath escaping from his lips like the soul of a dying man, Naruto Uzumaki fell down to his knees..."
1. Written in the Stars

****Author's Note**** Frist, the traditional: **I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS. THIS IS A FAN-BASED WORK, NOT FOR PROFIT.** Now that that's out of the way, I'd like to welcome you to The Book of Endings. As the title implies, this will be a series of shorts which present various endings for the Naruto franchise. They will vary in style and occasionally quality, some being humorous and some being tear-jerkers and some triumphant. I once planned to do many, many chapters of this; but I saw it had the potential to go on forever and decided to cut it short. The result may be difficult to decipher at first, but I honestly think things happened in the best possible way I could handle them.

Unlike some other fanfics, I'm going to actively encourage you to steal chapters/themes from this for your own fan fiction stories. Go ahead, do it! I really won't mind. After all, I stole a bunch to piece this together. :D

Lastly, I'm going to give you a heads up: my Christmas present to you will be The Stars In Your Eyes, which is going to be another eye-gouger, about the Prince of all Saiyans and a certain American handicapped rights figure. And now, I present to you... the beginning?

THE BOOK OF ENDINGS: Written in the Stars

The shuddering breath escaping from his lips like the soul of a dying man, Naruto Uzumaki fell down to his knees. He sobbed, and finally unfettered, tears began to stream down his face. The weight of the sorrow restricting his breathing, Naruto gasped for air. "I... I'm sorry, everyone..." The once hopeful ninja bit his lip and clamped his eyes shut, trying to shove down the pain for a moment. "I failed..."

Kakashi looked down, wishing there was something he could say to the boy, but there was nothing. Nothing came to mind, and nothing he could say would even come close to mattering right now. _Nothing. Everything Naruto's fought for and believed in, all the sacrifices of the Shinobi Alliance, it's all been brought to this- nothing._..

Pushing herself up into a sitting position, Hinata watched the love of her life hold his head in his hands as he muttered, "I failed, I failed..." So many times she had desperately wanted to take his place; in the battle against Pain, as the Nine Tails was extracted from him, and here; but she knew this was something only Naruto could face up to. And as she heard him keep repeating the outcome of the final confrontation, a tear of her own trickled down her bruised and smudged cheek. In light of that, there was only one thing that still mattered to her, and Hinata would be damned if she didn't say so now. "Naruto... I still love you."

Naruto swallowed. "Hinata, I..." But he couldn't do it, couldn't muster up the strength to turn to her and say those words right now. Instead, he looked up to the face of the man who stood before him, a pleading look directed to those eyes- the eyes of a demon.

"What's the problem, Uzumaki? Is the world suddenly too large for one so small?" Madara Uchiha's glare speared into Naruto, pinning him in place. "This is your true place in the world, and all along you've only been fighting against realizing it. You should be thanking me for this; exorcising the demon that made you an outcast, and pulling the veil from your eyes! Don't you realize? Your fight is over! The long awaited utopia is birthed at last!" Whirling around, Madara formed the Ram hand seal, and exhaled a grunt of concentration.

Sakura's eyes fluttered open. "Wh- what's going on with the moon?"

Unable to look away from Madara's jutsu, Kakashi whispered in reply, "That's no moon..."


	2. Your Decision

Sasuke stood at the edge of the cliff, the kunai in his hands biting into the necks of Hinata and Sakura. The wind was fierce, and it blew around loose strands of hair on their heads. "You cannot save everyone, Naruto! You're going to have to make a sacrifice, a choice if you want to be the hero now. And if you refuse to choose, they will both die!"

"Why, Sasuke? Why choose this; is this really your shinobi way?" Naruto struggled against the gale to reach Sasuke.

"No! Come closer and I will kill them both!"

This threat gives Naruto pause, and he ceases his advance for the moment. "No one plans to take this path, Sasuke! We... you were like my brother! We could still walk down the road that leads home!"

Sasuke shook his head. "And how many roads must a man walk before he dies? No, this is my revenge... I am the last Uchiha, Uzumaki. I am not afraid to walk this world alone!" He pressed the kunai deeper into the exposed necks of Sakura and Hinata for a moment, drawing blood. "Now why don't you two explain to your beloved why he should pick you over the other!"

Gulping, Sakura began, "I understand what you meant now, about lieing to yourself. I didn't want to believe you back then, but I know now. I'm not just settling for you because I can't have Sasuke anymore, Naruto! I love you! Even back when I was obsessed with Sasuke there was just something about you, and I couldn't stand you because I thought Sasuke was the one I wanted! You're the only one for me Naruto! Please!"

Hinata saw the tears running down Sakura's face, and the pain on Naruto's. The decision wasn't an easy one, but for Hinata it came down to one thing: Naruto's happiness. "Naruto, pick Sakura!" She shouted over the wind. "Just forget about me!"

The wind swept over the cliff, the silence filled with its noise. Suddenly the dark clouds released their burden, the rain drops like tiny hammers pounding down. "Choose, Naruto!" Urged Sasuke. "You have ten seconds!"

With his emotions warring within him, Naruto hurriedly thought back over both pleas. In the end, it was Sakura's reminder about staying true to himself that decided it. "...I choose Hinata!" He briefly took in Sakura's face one last time, the expression of total shock and horror burned into his memory. Sasuke simultaneously twisted to the side, the kunai sliding across Sakura's neck as she fell over the cliff, and pushed Hinata towards Naruto. They ran towards each other, and were only an arm's length away when Hinata cried out in pain. Black flames writhed over her back, spreading to her arms.

"Nooooo!" As Hinata stumbled forwards and down to her knees, Naruto pulled her up and embraced her. For the first and last time their lips met, rains and tears mingling as they shared a too short moment of unrestrained passion. Feeling the flames race up Hinata's hair, they parted.

"We'll meet again someday, Naruto." A gentle smile eased onto Hinata's face. "Believe it..." At that moment, the flames consumed Hinata as the anguish overtook Naruto. He wept over her for a moment, then stood and walked towards Sasuke, the fires of Amaterasu burning away his arms barely noticed.

But Sasuke did not detect vengeance in Naruto's eyes. He lifted his chin and said, "Do it, Sasuke."

"...Get on your knees, and beg..."

Before Sasuke could finish the sentence, Naruto was doing so. "Please, just do it..." The silent cry for Sasuke to turn from his shinobi way and return home reaching his ears, Sasuke said the only thing he possibly could:

"No."


	3. Perfect Cherry Blossom

The door shut, and Sakura giggled. Despite living in a village full of literal ninjas, it seemed lately the hardest thing to find had been time alone with the one who stood grinning across from her. Naruto chased her backwards until Sakura tripped over the foot of the bed. He ran his hands up her waist and back, coming to a stop in the crooks of her elbows. He leaned down to kiss Sakura but she laughed and kept turning her head away. "Naruto, wait! T- talk to me first!"

"So after a two year long war, and single-handedly defeating Madara Uchiha and Kabuto, I still have to talk to you first?"

Sakura playfully sneered at Naruto. "Don't think just because you're Hokage now I'll automatically do everything you say, you goof." Naruto shifted his weight to the side, and leaned up on his elbow.

He took her hand, and gazed deep into her eyes.

"You're like, a... a perfect melody floating on the breeze;

A perfect cherry blossom hidden in the leaves,

A full moon and starry sky, a thousand points of light,

The... fire that I shadow, always burning bri-"

Before Naruto could finish the rhyme, Sakura pulled him in with her other arm and kissed him, their lips meeting like a splash of warm water. They wriggled all the way onto the bed, and with a contented sigh Sakura pulled back from Naruto. She looked at him, and he looked at her, their shared position saying more than either of them felt like saying at the moment. Naruto wove his fingers through Sakura's hair, and kissed her again, more intensely than the last one. He squirmed in closer, his hand trailing from Sakura's hair to the small of her back, and pulled her tighter to him, their hips meeting with an undeniable heat. Sakura gasped as they parted for air, and the insistence of the feeling spreading up to her chest caused her to put a hand on Naruto's shoulder and gently push him back.

"Naru- mnn- Naruto, hold on a minute."

"What...?" Sakura glanced at his waist, then twisted away and swung her legs off the bed.

Standing, Sakura looked back over her shoulder and winked. "You'll see." After a few zips! and snaps and rustles of cloth, she turned to face him, thoroughly enjoying the look on Naruto's face. "You too," She suggested. "Unless, of course, you don't want to-" But sure enough Naruto got the hint, and soon the only thing between them was the bed. Sakura climbed back on, and snaked her way back to Naruto, snaking her leg through his and giving him a teasing kiss on the lips. "Where were we?"

"Here," Naruto breathed, resting his hand on her hip. "Thousand Years of Death..."

****Author's Note****

This was probably the most awkward, hilarious, and disturbingly fun thing to write for me in ages. Personally, I think it was a close shave, but let me know if you think I should bump the fic's rating up to M cause of this chapter.


	4. Lucky Number Seven

He had lived a life full of sorrow and triumph, and with a wistful smile Naruto Uzumaki decided that it was finally time. He already had summoned the witnesses and others he'd wanted to be here, and the only thing left was to commit the act. Removing his hat and drawing the kunai, he asked Konohamaru Sarutobi, "Are you ready?"

Konohamaru glanced to Moegi and their children before replying with a grin, "You'd better believe it."

_It's almost like looking in a mirror..._ Naruto noted. On more than one occasion Kakashi and others had commented that the man who waited before him was like a younger version of himself; always striving to be the best shinobi of his generation, the same determination to be appreciated for who he was- but that wasn't how Naruto viewed him, especially in recent years.

Konohamaru was more like his son.

Naruto cleared his throat, becoming serious for a moment. "As we know, it's not so easy to live in the shadows." Naruto spoke of their childhoods here, as he now had his face on the side of a mountain and Konohamaru was widely expected to succeed him. "But that will be your solemn duty and way of life from now on. We shinobi live and die in the flash of a blade; that is our sole pupose in life- but even so, we seek that perfect immortality, to be remembered after we die. That is the Will of Fire, which you have now inherited. Konohamaru Sarutobi of Konohagakure, do you accept this?"

"Yes." Trying not to break into a grin, Naruto handed Konohamaru his kunai, and placed the Hokage's hat on his disciple's head. Konohamaru rose, and embraced Naruto. A sly grin crept onto his face, as they had not informed the others attending their next move would be taking place. As cameras were raised to take commemorative pictures, the two called out:

"Sexy Jutsu: Girl on Girl Technique!" The transformations appeared with a puff! of smoke, the cameras flashing as the vapors drifted away from the pose.

"NAAAARRRRUUUTOOOOOO!"


	5. The Sound of Music

The wind blew over the hills, lightly caressing the tops before moving on. It was a warm night in those hills which were alive with the sound of music; alive with that magic that calls all travelers to them. Though the wind seldom knows whither unto it gusts, it navigated its way back after a time, and came to a rest; the area gloriously resounding with silence. Then, it stirred up again, disparate breezes mingling and migrating on towards new directions.

Tendrils of the midnight mists slowly crept over the lands, leaving subtle traces of glimmering dew upon the grass. Stars rose up in the sky as the traced their way over plains and valleys; pale moons appeared in the heavens as if the sky opened it eyes to looked down upon the earth for the first time. 'Twas an uncommon duo of orbs to show themselves, but wholly natural in the enchantment of the scene, and the misty earth shimmered in its revelation of them, a blue orb peeking back. As it was wont to do, that blue orb wandered in the midst of the void; the sights of those celestial lights a dear memory it held as it wheeled about in the blackness.

As they had since the beginning of time, those thousand points of light observed that precious cerulean gem- which had once seemed unique in its rarity, but sages and wise men had revealed was only most precious in its qualities. Perhaps, the reaches of space glowed in contentment that such a form was held within them, rejoicing over the smallest tilt on its axis or movement in orbit.

Time progressed slowly, that unceasing pendulum swinging to and fro. On the surface of that globe, the earth shuddered and groaned as the fiery heat long held within itself shifted, tectonic plates grinding against each other as the broiling magma pushed against their insides; from this same friction a mountain came into being, one which pierced the sky. Their full light shone on the terrene as the myriad luminaries of the cosmos witnessed the eruption of that lofty eminence, blazing lava coursing down its side in rivulets.

An age that seemed to be an eternity- but in truth was a comparatively short moment- passed, the primal beauty and violence of that scorching plume resonating to the farthest ends of the rondure whilst untold songs whispered skyward to the moons; it only being meet and just such merits were ascribed to them, the same as it was sublimely ordered aright that such lunar dusts would ever be drawn into circuit with the earth.

And gradually, a fervent and resplendant tide inched its way over the horizon as that very same circuit carried on, slowly washing away the lucent points that had once seemed so radiant, a world coming to life in its wake. Inevitably, the irresistable lambent wave crested, a richer refulgence triumphantly ascending, to trills of birdsong and the lowing of ewes as the moons bowed their heads and vanished from the heavens.

Tender siroccos swept around the landscape, gently rustling the blades of grass and leaves on the trees, on which new buds were sprouting in the dawn. Nested in the fork of one of those trees by the brook, a songbird exhaled its relaxed thoughts, having flown through a gloomy night to return to its native environment.

Above, somewhere in the crystalline blue heights, the moons bent down their ear and listened to the sparrow, the tune coming to them at last.

****Author's Note****

...yes.

_"Nature is the greatest drug."_

_~Michael Savage_

EPIC UPDATE: My mom stumbled across this while she was on the computer earlier today, and mentioned that she thought it was "pretty good". I've officially made it as an author. xD

Take care,

~Uskius


	6. Snakebite Letter

The blood called to them, precious and sweet. Blood to blood, pain to pain. Forcing her eyes open, Anko Mitarashi sat up in the bed, tubes dangling from and attached to inconvenient places. She ripped them off, disregarding the small wounds this caused, and swung her legs off the bed's side. She was a bit woozy, having just awakened from a coma. Glancing around, the hospital seemed almost deserted: a few patients gazed up at the ceiling with hollow eyes, and a medic nin sat in a corner holding their head in their hands, sobbing.

_What's...? Have they... already? I can't have been out for too long..._ Wobbling out of the ward into the hall, Anko took in the phosphorescent light hanging down from the ceiling, flickering on and off like a lightning bug. She moved forwards as the call demanded, but chancing upon the laundry room after a random turn, she stepped inside. There were several sets of scrubs and hand towels knocked off the racks; to the right were what seemed to be patient clothes. A quick scan of the floor yielded her coat, and neat stacks slightly hanging over the edges of the shelves supplied her miniskirt and the rest of her usual outfit. Sitting down, she pulled on the ensemble and rose again, exiting the hospital as fast as she could manage.

The streets and alleys of Konoha were much the same as the inside of the hospital: shaken and roughed up around the edges, a rare glimpse of some poor soul wandering around here and there. Stumbling around another corner, there was a thick layer of dust and rubble bubbling over from a cauldron of destruction, the aftermath of some titanic clash. _He's here, he's here..._ Her pulse quickening, Anko tried to run towards the shallow crater's edge, but she tripped on an unseen piece of debris, the fall scraping her palms and knees deep enough to draw out tiny dots of her own blood. She continued, crawling on her hands and knees to the epicenter of the wreckage. _Footprints..._ It seemed someone else had been here- perhaps even recently. _But he's alone... all... mine, alone..._

Naruto stared at the sky, eyes and soul blank and empty; he had not moved from this position since the disaster that had put him in it. _Who's... Anko...?_ Wordlessly, she crawled to him, collaspsing on her side at his. She cradled the back of his head in her hands, memorizing the pain, loss, and shame etched into it, before leaning in and licking away the blood that had dried on it. _Why...?_ Inexplicably, Anko began to cry, her tears falling and rubbing off on Naruto's cheeks, aiding Anko's tongue in cleaning his face. Warm and steady like a heartbeat, Anko kept on, licking up the blood on Naruto's chapped and split lips just the same as she had with his cheek. With a sharp pain in his heart, Naruto's tears welled up again, and he wrapped his arms around her and held her close.

They didn't move- almost didn't breathe- for several moments, the hug a comfort each needed but couldn't explain. "So... this is how it is now... but it's too late to stop it..." Anko breathed into Naruto's ear, before licking away a trickle of blood there. "All we fought so hard to keep, it's all... we couldn't save. But... how can we open the eyes of the dead... when we're so empty ourselves..." _No hope, no fear, no blood... you won't bleed again, Naruto..._ "I've watched you, Naruto. I understand, and I know how hard you've tried. Don't think I didn't notice during the exam..." The whisper faded into silence, which stretched into whole minutes. "...So I guess this is the way the world ends, huh?" Anko pulled Naruto in closer, and laid her head on his chest. "Just you and me..."


	7. A Toast to My Former Self

Sasuke stood at the edge of the cliff, the kunai in his hands biting into the necks of Hinata and Sakura. The wind was fierce, and it blew around loose strands of hair on their heads. "You cannot save everyone, Naruto! You're going to have to make a sacrifice, a choice if you want to be the hero now. And if you refuse to choose, they will both die!"

"Why, Sasuke? Why choose this; is this really your shinobi way?" Naruto struggled against the gale to reach Sasuke.

"No! Come closer and I will kill them both!"

This threat gives Naruto pause, and he ceases his advance for the moment. "No one plans to take this path, Sasuke! We... you were like my brother! We could still walk down the road that leads home!"

Sasuke shook his head. "And how many roads must a man walk before he dies? No, this is my revenge... I am the last Uchiha, Uzumaki. I am not afraid to walk this world alone!" He pressed the kunai deeper into the exposed necks of Sakura and Hinata for a moment, drawing blood. "Now why don't you two explain to your beloved why he should pick you over the other!"

Gulping, Sakura began, "I understand what you meant now, about lieing to yourself. I didn't want to believe you back then, but I know now. I'm not just settling for you because I can't have Sasuke anymore, Naruto! I love you! Even back when I was obsessed with Sasuke there was just something about you, and I couldn't stand you because I thought Sasuke was the one I wanted! You're the only one for me Naruto! Please!"

Hinata saw the tears running down Sakura's face, and the pain on Naruto's. The decision wasn't an easy one, but for Hinata it came down to one thing: Naruto's happiness. "Naruto, pick Sakura!" She shouted over the wind. "Just forget about me!"

The wind swept over the cliff, the silence filled with its noise. Suddenly the dark clouds released their burden, the rain drops like tiny hammers pounding down. "Choose, Naruto!" Urged Sasuke. "You have ten seconds!"

With his emotions warring within him, Naruto hurriedly thought back over both pleas. In the end, it was Sakura's reminder about staying true to himself that decided it. "...I choose Hinata!" Naruto looked at Sakura's face for what he thought would be the last time, the sheer shock and horror forever etched into his memory- and then, Sasuke suddenly twisted away, simultaneously wrenching to the side, the kunai's edge sliding across Hinata's neck as she tumbled over the edge of the cliff, and pushed Sakura forwards. They ran towards each other, Sakura reaching out and falling into Naruto's arms. For an all-too-brief moment they held each other, the rain washing their tears away.

"Sakura..." She looked up to him, lips slightly parted, but there was no mistaking the look in his eyes. She understood now, having witnessed Hinata's fate. They faced Sasuke. "Come home with us, Sasuke-"

"No! Do you honestly think I'll return to that whorehouse? What reason do I have to go back to a place that tore my clan and my brother away from me?" Sasuke stared at Naruto, his emotions breaking loose. _He goes on about pain and coming home... I'll tell him..._ "For years, I looked up to my brother Itachi as a hero, almost worshipping him! I didn't want to be anything else than like my brother, defending Konoha as a proud member of the Uchiha clan. But Konoha, Konoha was afraid of us, and sent a man, the _only_ one who could, to slaughter my clan... Itachi! Naruto, it was Itachi who murdered my family and the rest of our clan! All because your village wanted to protect itself from us!" Sakura's jaw dropped on hearing the news. She turned to Naruto, but it seemingly hadn't affected him.

"If Itachi was willing to give anything for Konoha, then why aren't you?" Naruto replied. "Sasuke, I... it hasn't exactly been easy for me, either. I gave up the Nine-Tails to Tobi just for a chance at bringing you back, and look at what happened because of that! You're a criminal to the other nations, Sasuke... but you're still family to me."

"First: you were a fool to give up the Nine-Tails to _him_, and second... I have no family... Give up trying to bring me back, Naruto."

"...Give up trying to make me give up, Sasuke! I promised Sakura I would bring you back...!"

Sasuke glared at Sakura. "...She's trash, just like the rest of Konoha." As Sasuke finished his sentence, he squinted, the Amaterasu igniting and bursting over Sakura's face from her forehead.

"Nooooo!"

"...You might have been my brother at one point, Naruto. But I'll never live in my brother's shadow again." Turning, Sasuke began to walk away along the cliff's edge.

Naruto hesitated to leave Sakura's side for a moment, but ran into the wind after Sasuke, catching up to him. "Sasuke...!" He grabbed the Uchiha's shoulder and spun him around to face him. "I'm never gonna give you up!"

"But would you be willing to desert Konoha, turn your back on that village and your dream of becoming Hokage?" Tears mixing with the rain, Naruto's sprung to life again as he thought over his answer.

"Sasuke... I'll leave Konoha forever if you'll go back..." The blood from activating the Amaterasu trickling down from his eye, Sasuke said the only thing he possibly could:

"No."


	8. Chimes

His sandals kicked up small clouds of dust as they walked along the road, far away from his homeland. Naruto had walked this same path before, on a mission to protect a priestess as she journeyed to seal away a demon. He wondered how many roads a shinobi had to walk in their lifetime, but he often had such thoughts when he was alone- and he ignored them. Not so long ago, he might have said the only road that mattered was the one that led back home; but he had never believed in destiny, he knew things could change. In an instant.

And they had. No, Naruto hadn't given up his dream of becoming Hokage; he made promises and he never went back on them. Which was why he was now traveling to the Land of Demons: he had once promised the High Priestess, Shion, to help ensure there were more priestesses to combat Moryo in the future. _Well, I don't know anything about being a priestess, but I'll help somehow._

In an odd way- not just because he had come there before- the Land of Demons felt familiar to Naruto; again not as if he'd visited here often, but as if he had once _lived_ there. _Heh, deja vu all over again... wonder what Shion's up to now? It's been a while. Three, maybe four...? Yeah._ Naruto kept count as he kicked along the rock in front of him, kicking up a new one if it happened to go off the path. Sometimes he missed with the edge of his sandal, hitting the rock with his toes, chipping his nails.

Another day and night, Naruto was on the road. He seldom saw anyone else traveling along it, and the moon watched him traveling alone, like a cautious eye. Then, at noon, he came to the gates of the temple city.

"Halt! Who goes there?" Shouted one of the guards from atop the wall.

"It's Naruto Uzumaki, remember? I saved your country like what, last week? Come on..."

_Uzumaki... oh!_ Finally remembering, the guard gave the order to have the gates opened. Though it seemed like... just last week, some time ago the guard and the rest on gate duty had been commanded by High Priestess Shion herself to watch for someone named Naruto Uzumaki coming in. The tall wooden doors creaking open, the guard raced down from his post to greet Naruto. "Welcome back, Uzumaki-san. I presume you'll be wanting to meet with High Priestess Shion?"

"Yeah," Naruto nodded. "I was gonna help her keep the line of priestessesses intact and help train them, or something like that."

The guard's eyes bulged out, and he had to bite down on his reply. "Well, the temple is just this way..." Leading Naruto towards the temple, the guard wondered what on Earth Shion saw in the boy; he may have been a hero, but... _Oh well. Perhaps she saw him in one of her visions?_ Oddly, Naruto was pretty silent, looking around the streets and above the wall at the surrounding countryside. He actually had to alert the boy when they'd arrived at the temple.

Naruto adjusted his pack as they walked up the temple steps, the doors swinging open when they reached them.

"Naruto...!" Shion was behind the doors, apparently waiting for them. After staring into his eyes for a moment Shion ran forwards and hugged Naruto, her arms wrapped tight around him as if she didn't plan to ever let go. A little hesitantly, Naruto hugged her back.

"Hey, Shion..." The two had their moment, and when Shion lifted up her head Naruto saw she was beginning to tear up.

Shion quickly wiped her eyes and smiled. "You just missed lunch; but I'll have more tea made. I'll let you freshen up and then we'll take tea, okay?"

"Sounds great!" Naruto laughed. Shion summoned one of the temple attendants, who somewhat nervously showed Naruto to a luxurious suite in the Western wing of the temple. The bath alone was almost the size of his room in Konoha. With a smirk, Naruto stripped off his clothes and jumped into the water, relaxing as the dust of the road soaked away. Opening his eyes, he picked up a bar of soap with a delicate scent from the side and lathered up quickly, then submerged himself and rose up, shaking off the water in a shower of droplets. He saw towels neatly folded over a rack, and snatched one off. _Man, this is so soft!_ Not wanting to keep Shion waiting long, Naruto dried off in a hurry, getting his change of clothes from his pack and getting dressed on the way to the door.

The attendant was waiting for him. "The tea room is just a short walk down the hall and around the corner," The young man explained as they walked.

"Has Shion made any more of those predictions of hers?" Naruto asked, studying the art on the walls.

The servant swallowed. "No... fortunately, things have been rather peaceful since Moryo was defeated..." _I'm not sure about this, but..._ "...High Priestess Shion has mentioned you several times; there's a disproportionately popular rumor that states she foresaw your return... at the least, she's kept things prepared for guests at all times." Bowing slightly, the attendant gestured to the door of a room.

Entering, Naruto saw Shion already seated at the tea table. She began to rise, but Naruto cut in, "No, you don't have to get up for me." He joined her at the table, and saw a steaming bowl of ramen.

"It's left over from lunch; on a whim I had it heated up. I hope that's alright-" But Naruto had already picked up the chopsticks and begun eating.

"So," Naruto said, mouth partially filled with ramen, "About that line of priestesses, what kind of training will we be doing?"

Shion blushed. "Oh, nothing to h- difficult. You'll probably enjoy it..."

"Cool," _Some basic ninjutsu and taijutsu..._ "Maybe I could show you a few moves."

"Ah... I'd like that. Listen, Naruto, we'll talk more about the... training later. I want hear about how you've been."

Slurping up the bite of ramen, Naruto looked down at the already nearly empty bowl. "I'm a shinobi, Shion. I've been fighting in the Fourth Ninja War. Kicking butt, taking names, that kind of thing." Naruto set down the bowl, and took his first sip of tea. "...But the war's over now. I guess I'm on vacation."

"Why don't you stay here a while? The Land of Demons is lovely this time of year..." Shion sipped her tea, looking across the table at Naruto.

"Yeah... I think I'll stay."

**-THAT EVENING-**

Naruto was stretched out on the bed. During the afternoon he had been given the grand tour of the city, visiting all the historic shrines and lesser temples. The door to the room quietly slid open, and Shion entered. She was dressed more casually than when they had met for tea earlier. "Hey, what's shakin'?"

Shion blinked and smiled. "No, you don't have to get up for me." Shrugging, Naruto sat back down on the edge of the bed. "Ahem. Naruto, I wanted to talk to you about continuing the line of priestesses now." Shion sat down next Naruto, glancing at him from the side.

"So, we'll we be training them in ninjutsu, or something?"

"Let me show you," Shion said, pushing Naruto onto the bed. She squirmed to on top of him, and showered his lips with kisses in an oddly familiar manner.

_WHOA! Shion?_ Of course, carrying her on his back, Naruto had known; but this was an entirely different situation...

...later that night, Naruto awoke suddenly, looking out the window up to the stars. He felt very comfortable in his current position; but still, somewhere inside, a small part of him cried, the pain there calling to turn and leave to come back to Konoha; pointing and showing the way. Wind chimes sounded, soft and subtle in the still of the night. Staring at the moon, Naruto closed his eyes again.

In the morning, he noticed Shion was already up. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, and got dressed; and looking back towards the bed, he saw his forehead protector on the bedside table. With a sigh, he zipped up his jacket and walked away.


	9. The Wind and the Wheat

The wind and the wheat danced together, lazily bending this way and that. Naruto could see the capital of the Land of Greens from the cliff top, just as picturesque as he remembered; like a warm scene from a memory. He looked at the tombstone to his right, buried there was a daimyo of the land, and the father of the one who ruled now: Haruna.

He remembered her, at first disguised as the male cousin of her bodyguards. She'd been cold and selfish, even knocking out Hinata and sneaking off at one point; but Naruto later learned from her that she'd been lonely as a child, traded away as a hostage to ensure the Land of Greens' safety. Naruto had not failed to notice the similarities in their pasts on the road here. With a sigh, he turned away and started down the path to the village. Along the way he kicked at a few rocks, keeping count as he went.

It was several minutes before the rock fell off the path, dropping a short ways down the side of the cliff. Naruto followed it, hopping off and dropping onto the path into the village. He got that peculiar feeling, as if the Land of Greens was familiar to him like he'd lived there in the past; and to be honest he'd wanted to come back and visit for some time.

In the late afternoon light, Naruto caught the eye of a cute girl a couple years his junior, pulling up roots from a vegetable bed. He faintly recognized her face, which was smudged with dark dirt. She blinked, not quite believing what she was seeing, and wiped her face on her sleeve. "Naruto? Naruto, is that really you?"

"Heh, yeah it's me alright: the one and only great Naruto Uzumaki!"

The girl smiled. "I'm Momiji; do you remember?"

"Wha- _Momiji?_ Man, you've sure grown a lot!"

Momiji smiled and winked. "Well, I was always small for my age..." She cleared her throat. "So have you and Choji come to move more carts?"

"No," Naruto chuckled. "It's just me this time. I'd promised Haruna I'd come back some day."

"Huh... you know, I think a while ago she made some announcement about your team... I can't remember it right now but I think you should definitely go by the castle later. But first, why don't you come inside with me and get a drink? It's hot out." Naruto nodded, and followed her inside the small house. "...I'm by myself here," Momiji explained as she pulled out two cups from a cabinet. She placed them on the edge of the kitchen counter, and continued as she opened the water bag and poured. "Granny died last Winter; and by then I'd been doing most of the house work anyways..." She gave Naruto his cup, and tucked away the water bag.

Momiji watched Naruto as they drank. _He's grown too; taller, probably stronger... and we've heard a few things here about Konoha in the war... so..._ She kept waiting for Naruto to speak, remembering he had something to say about everything the last time she'd seen him- but here he was silent. He looked up to her, and somehow she knew he was thinking about the war too.

**-THAT EVENING, IN THE CASTLE-**

They looked out the window, the evening sun bathing the waves of grain in the Land of Greens in a soft light, like golden water.

"...So with the building finished, there's only one thing left." Haruna turned to Naruto. "You see, a few of us have trained in ninjutsu but for the most part we're still a land of farmers, unprepared for conflict. I can almost see the village being overrun, the blood of innocents crying out from the soil... but there was this determination you had Naruto; I saw something in you that made me believe one day we all could be a little more like you... I ruled that every child who had the aptitude take at least one semester of basic ninjutsu, but with Kikonozu gone we have no true talent left to teach them. Naruto, now that you're here... would you help train us in ninjutsu?"

"Well, I still have a bunch to learn myself, but I could show them a few things, yeah."

"...And not just that: Naruto, aside from a generous stipend as an academy instructor, I would like to make you the Kage of this village."

The word _Kage_ shut Naruto down for a moment, and his jaw hung open. _Learn... maybe..._ All of a sudden, Naruto's trademark grin was back on his face. "Add free ramen to my salary and you've got yourself a deal."


	10. Memory of Light

Like arrows in a bloody war, the tears began to fly, and Naruto Uzumaki howled to the moon like a demon hungry for Heaven. The terror of the moment ripped a thousand holes in the sky, the blood of the universe leaking through and raining down on the scene like tiny hammers. Naruto's soul felt weaker, and as he looked up into the eyes of a demon it seemed like those eyes knew- and had been waiting.

"This is my revenge!" Spoke a voice, that seemed to come from somewhere, nowhere, all. "And you should be thanking me for this! You've been too blind to realize what you've been fighting against, but the hour is at hand! The long awaited utopia is birthed at last!"

Suddenly the body the eyes belonged to spun around, performing hand seals as it started break dancing: powerful spins, surreal threading and contortions.

Hinata pushed herself up into a sitting position, and tore her eyes away from the vulgar display of power by the demon-eyes. The love of her life was on his knees sobbing, and there was only one thing on her mind right now: "Naruto, help me train..."

"Hinata, I'll... be there in a moment." Naruto crawled on his hands and knees, the rubble and debris grating the tender flesh of his... palms, drawing drops of his blood. He collapsed on his side at Hinata's, somehow at the same time pushing her down through the rubble strewn across the ground and back onto a bed. For what seemed like an eternity- but was really only a few relatively short moments- they didn't and move almost didn't breathe; he looked at her and she looked at him, their shared position saying more than either of them felt like saying at the moment.

Even so, there was a small voice that cried inside Naruto, calling him to leave and turn to come back to himself, pointing and showing the way. But before he left, he said the only thing he possibly could say; that voice inside him sang a perfect melody that drifted up on the breeze, and straining to hear its echoes at long last the tune came to Hinata. "We'll meet again someday, Naruto." A gentle smile eased onto her face. "Believe it."

And so, she kept a memory of the lights in his eyes dear to her, knowing those blue orbs would follow their path back to her just the same as her pale moons would always circle them.


	11. Open Hand

Sasuke stood at the edge of the cliff, the kunai in his hands biting into the necks of Hinata and Sakura. The wind was fierce, and it blew around loose strands of hair on their heads. "You cannot save everyone, Naruto! You're going to have to make a sacrifice, a choice if you want to be the hero now. And if you refuse to choose, they will both die!"

"Why, Sasuke? Why choose this; is this really your shinobi way?" Naruto struggled against the gale to reach Sasuke.

"No! Come closer and I will kill them both!"

This threat gives Naruto pause, and he ceases his advance for the moment. "No one plans to take this path, Sasuke! We... you were like my brother! We could still walk down the road that leads home!"

Sasuke shook his head. "And how many roads must a man walk before he dies? No, this is my revenge... I am the last Uchiha, Uzumaki. I am not afraid to walk this world alone!" He pressed the kunai deeper into the exposed necks of Sakura and Hinata for a moment, drawing blood. "Now why don't you two explain to your beloved why he should pick you over the other!"

Gulping, Sakura began, "I understand what you meant now, about lieing to yourself. I didn't want to believe you back then, but I know now. I'm not just settling for you because I can't have Sasuke anymore, Naruto! I love you! Even back when I was obsessed with Sasuke there was just something about you, and I couldn't stand you because I thought Sasuke was the one I wanted! You're the only one for me Naruto! Please!"

Hinata saw the tears running down Sakura's face, and the pain on Naruto's. The decision wasn't an easy one, but for Hinata it came down to one thing: Naruto's happiness. "Naruto, pick Sakura!" She shouted over the wind. "Just forget about me!"

The wind swept over the cliff, the silence filled with its noise. Suddenly the dark clouds released their burden, the rain drops like tiny hammers pounding down. "Choose, Naruto!" Urged Sasuke. "You have ten seconds!"

With his emotions warring within him, Naruto hurriedly thought back over both pleas. In the end, it was Sakura's reminder about staying true to himself that decided it. "...I choose you, Sasuke!" Sighing, Naruto leaned back, tongue catching drops of rain, his hand wandering towards the waist of his pants...

Sakura looked away disgusted, wondering how on Earth she'd not known this about Naruto and how he could even think of doing such a thing at a time like this.

In the edges of Naruto's vision, he saw Sasuke's lip curl up, and his grip on Sakura and Hinata loosen. _Just what I was waiting for!_ Whipping out the last resort kunai hidden in his underwear, Naruto sprang forwards straight through the wind right at Sasuke, catching him off guard. Naruto collided with Sasuke, tackling him over the cliff.

Sasuke recoverd mid-air, and busted out of Naruto's waistlock and potential Front Lotus-like dive. They traded a few blows before drifting apart and bouncing down the face of the cliff, tumbling upright and sliding down the rest of the way. But, though Sasuke drew his sword, he didn't attack.

"Sasuke... I may have said we'll die in battle together someday, but I won't let it be today!" Naruto blinked away the rain running into his eyes. "I- I know about Itachi, Sasuke... and you may not have the Uchiha clan anymore, but there's still me and the rest of Team Seven! You, you don't have to turn your back to the world anymore because you think it's your only choice- what if I told you there's a better way? Would you come home if you knew the way...?" There was a roll of thunder like rocks sliding down a mountain, and like pain inside a lonely heart the lightning cracked the sky.

And just as Sasuke's emotions boiled over and the black fires of Hell consumed his reason, a form leapt in front of Naruto, shielding him from the flames. "H- Hinata? No!"

"He'll come back some day, Naruto." A gentle smile eased onto Hinata's face. "Just like I was always drawn to you..." Amaterasu flared up and engulfed the rest of Hinata's body.

"Sasuke..."

He stared at the pyre, itself a token of their pain and misfortunes, then looked up to Naruto and said the only thing he possibly could: "No."


	12. TwentyThree

Naruto picked his nose. Tobi watched fascinated, and held his hand out to receive it.

"No! This is my revenge! Booger Style Rasengan!" But Tobi dodged, reappearing beside Naruto. With a smack!, Tobi punched Naruto in the jaw. A thousand points of light danced in Naruto's vision as he fell backwards, onto a downy bed. Tobi removed his mask, to reveal... Shion!

"Our training is now complete," She stated. She laughed, and as she drew her kunai liquid poured from them that morphed into Sakura and Hinata- and the moon rose up behind her. "And now, your first test as the ultimate hero- make the ultimate choice! Which fork in life's true path you travel down, Naruto?"

Sages and wise men had long ago distilled the merits of the path less chosen into pure poetry; that path that Naruto seemed to have been born on, it called to him- blood to blood, pain to pain. Such a pen those same odes were written with appeared the cruelest blade to Naruto at times, twisting the power of merciless words into endearment. With a clinched fist and clinched teeth Naruto spoke the words burning in his heart, "I ACCEPT MY DESTINY!", and took his leave, traveling away down the only road that mattered.

For what seemed like countless ages- but was in truth only a reasonably short spin on the axis- Naruto trod along, a pain in his heart pointing and showing the way. At last, he came to a cliff's edge, and removed his hand from his underwear. He raised the kunai, as it throbbed like a beating heart. He had lived a life full of struggles and triumphs, and all that was left was to commit the act. But as the kunai's point plunged straight to his heart, someone tackled him off the cliff. "Nooooo!"

"Wha- Sakura?"

"You're the only one for me, Naruto!" She shouted over the wind, as they fell head first towards a bonfire. Praying the words would reach him at last, she added "Please!"

Naruto relaxed his grip, and the kunai seemed to float upwards. Being almost made him sigh that he existed, but he couldn't escape this. Roaring out, Naruto said the only words he possibly could: "IT'S MY LIFE!" Pulling out of the nosedive as he passed through the fires, Naruto spread out his arms and transformed in a blaze of glory, the Nine-Tails' chakra forming truly magnificent wings. They soared up into a path of light that parted the dark clouds; Sakura riding upon Naruto's back like a proud knight returning to home from a war in a distant land, arms open wide as she leaned her head back and yielded herself up to the passion, glory and splendor of the heavens.


	13. Familiar Taste of Poison

The door swung closed, and Anko giggled. Even though they lived in a village full of literal ninjas, to Anko it seemed like the hardest thing to find had been time alone with the one she stood grinning across from. She darted forwards and tackled him onto the bed, her hands running up his sides until she had him pinned. Anko leaned down and attempted to lick Naruto's lips, but he kept turning his face away, laughing. "A-Anko, what the heck?"

"So after a two year long war and single-handedly defeating Kabuto and Madara, you still want to talk first? And don't get the idea that because you're Hokage now I'll just lie back and think of Konoha..." Anko shifted her weight to the side, leaning up on her elbow and smirking. "Here, I'll allow you to get a word in."

Naruto struggled to keep a straight face as he took Anko's hand and gazed deep into her eyes.

"You... you're like, the rustling of the grass, in a gentle breeze-

A beautiful and deadly venom hidden in the leaves,

A full moon and starry sky, a thousand points of light

The... fire that I shadow, always burning bri-"

Before Naruto could finish the rhyme, Anko pulled him in with her other arm and kissed him, their tongues meeting like two butterflies in the air. They wriggled all the way onto the bed, and with a contented sigh Anko pulled back from Naruto. She looked at him, and he looked at her, their shared position saying more than either of them felt like saying at the moment; they had found each other again, in spite of- or perhaps because of everything, after what had seemed like the end of the world.

Naruto wove his fingers through Anko's hair, and kissed her again, more intensely than before. He squirmed in closer, his hand slithering down to the small of her back, and pulled her tighter to him, their hips meeting with a melting heat. Anko gasped as they parted for air, and the insistence of the feeling creeping up to her chest caused her to push Naruto away slightly. "Naruto, hold on a minute..."

"What..?" Anko glanced at his waist, then rolled away and swung her legs off the bed.

Standing, Anko looked over her shoulder and winked. "You'll see." After a couple snaps! and shrugs and rustles of cloth, Anko turned to face Naruto as she let down her hair. _Ha, that look on his face..._ "You too," She suggested. "Unless, of course, you don't want to-" But sure enough Naruto got the hint, and soon the only thing between them was the bed. They climbed back on, and Anko snaked her way up to Naruto, coiling herself around him and giving him a teasing kiss on the lips. "Now where were we?" 

"I was about to show you my new jutsu," Naruto whispered. "Striking Snake Technique..."


	14. Deep Mountains

The wind blew over the hills, lightly caressing the tops before moving on. It was a warm night in those hills which were alive with the sound of music; alive with that magic that calls all travelers to them. Though the wind seldom knows whither unto it gusts, it navigated its way back after a time, and came to a rest; the area gloriously resounding with silence. Then, it stirred up again, disparate breezes mingling and migrating on towards new directions.

Tendrils of etherial mists slowly crept over the lands, leaving subtle traces of glimmering dew upon the grass. Stars rose up in the sky as the traced their way over plains and valleys; cherry blossoms opened in the heavens as if the sky opened it eyes to looked down upon the earth for the first time. 'Twas a delicate and very nearly surreal beauty that didst show itself, but wholly natural in the enchantment of the scene, and the misty earth shimmered in its revelation of them, a blue orb peeking back into space. As it was wont to do, that blue orb wandered in the midst of the void; the sights of those celestial coronas a dear memory it held as it wheeled about in the blackness.

As they had since the seed was sown and the blooms budded, those thousand petals were drawn to the surface of that precious cerulean gem- which had once seemed unique in its rarity, but sages and wise men had revealed was only most precious in its qualities. Perhaps, the far-flung branches swayed with simple contentment, rejoicing over the smallest lift of a twig or flutter of a leaf in the breeze.

Time progressed slowly, that unceasing pendulum swinging to and fro. On the surface of that globe, the earth shuddered and groaned as the fiery heat long held within itself shifted, tectonic plates grinding against each other as the broiling magma pushed against their insides; from this same friction a mountain came into being, one which pierced the sky. Their full light shone on the terrene as the myriad luminaries of the cosmos witnessed the eruption of that lofty eminence, blazing lava coursing down its side in rivulets.

An age that seemed to be an eternity- but in truth was a comparatively short moment- passed, the primal beauty and violence of that scorching plume resonating to the farthest ends of the rondure whilst untold songs drifted by on the breeze towards a perfect and hitherto hidden cherry blossom, it only being meet and right that such lauds and merits sought it out, just as the graceful boughs and trunk drew their elegance from the bones of the land.

And gradually, as the Earthly dew fell upon the valley, a fervent and resplendant tide inched its way over the horizon as that very same circuit carried on, slowly washing away the lucent points that had once seemed so radiant, a world coming to life in its wake. Inevitably, the irresistable lambent wave crested, a richer refulgence triumphantly ascending, to trills of birdsong and the lowing of ewes as the efflorescence turned towards the heavens.

Tender siroccos swept around the landscape, gently rustling the blades of grass and leaves on the trees, on which new buds were sprouting in the dawn. Nested in the fork of one of a cherry tree by the brook, a songbird exhaled its relaxed thoughts, having flown through a gloomy night to return to its native environment.

Around about and in the midst of the warbler, the nascent blooms bent down their ears and listened to the sparrow, the tune coming to them at last.


	15. On the Back of Angels

-butt of coarse that cuddent have happined, so Naruto looked down and saw Konoha under his feet, it was like the smowkes rizing up wur part of sum someuning richual for an deemunz. So he lokked around and he like sawed Saskay next to him and he was like fadding away, and Narutoe sed Saskay "Wye are you disapeering, cum back to Konoa and stuff! I prawmised Sakra I wood bring you back!" Then Sakay wus all like "Bro that bich is kinda trash, like the rest ov Konoa," and he tossed himself of this clif nex'to a sighn that sed Dont mess with Konoa and so Narooto jumped over The Edge who was playing With or Without You and Narutow kinda takkled Saskay in midair and they wure falling at this burning cherry tree some lame chick naymd Henatta was tied too

f

so they fighted in the ayr and stuff, it was reely kuhl the had theyr kuneye and crsp and thay slit down the side of the clif and thin juped oof and laned on the falyming cherry tree, like swinging on the branches and fighting on them and Narutoa sed "WYE CAN"T YOU JUST FORGIVE kONOA sASKAY Just like live and let live Iam willing to let that crsp sleyed cuz yuri my broski, foshizzleth

"But Narewto,

Fie tHIS pimpingeth hath not bin suffishently leesurely, its nought that ezy man. kONOA kinda forced my big bro to sorta kill teh rest of my clan and now I reely hate that dump, EYE"M just reely bitter i gess."

"just cum back, bro." ""kAY, gotta pcik up some bere furst. Bie/"

Soe

nARUTOU jumped off the tree then he lokked at it and it wuz this tree with a really graceful turnk and boughs and theese flayming cherry petals wur drifting dwon like falling starz and Narouxto thought it lokked reely delicate and sureel so he got all up on it and sexed it

=but too his sighed Henatta was all like "dont forget about mee, Narueto" an he wus like oh so he cut her downs yndrom the falyming cherry tree, then she was all like 'thanks', and stood nex'to da tree nad told him "Now yew have to choose me or that tree. All I care about is yore happiness, Naroughto. Pl0x sex me." But Narutough diddent feel like he was strong enough to deseyed, and then he wasl all like "Uuuuuuuuhh. it's so ahrd... to chewse between the plesure and the Pain, I now its wrong and I know it's rite but if i like tried to win the fight my heart woud overule my mind I- I gess I'm not strong to stay away" so

Naruto walked back to th tree, adn Henatta laffed liek some veil bich and ripped of her face and there was some swirly maskbehind it and Naruto went NOOOOOOO reely lowd and suddinly the tree and stuff was back on top of the cliff but Naruto was hanging over The Edge, who was playing One with his feet and it was reely windy too now- so Tobi stood in front of the flayming cherry tree and reached down his hadn to Naruto and shouted "Naruto, we are bowth desinded from the Sage of Six Paths!"

Then

Naruto

was like "How, yore an Uchihaa pirsun and Im an Oozaroomaki.?" But Tobi was all like "Seach you feelings you now this to be troo" and Naruto shook his head and tobi went "Yes! Join me and we could rule the world together as distant relatives1" Then naruto's hand was slipping it was like sum knightmare that kept getting wurse and he fell but then The Edge swung his guitar and hit Naruto back up and over Tobi and the Tree, way up in tha aire, and he was all spinumbling upside down ad junk, but then he fell right sighed up and he saw Konan riding towards him on an ninja ostrich, and she was dressed like a barbarian. So he landed on the ninja ostrich, right behind Konan and she sed "Condor and I were searching for you Naruto, weere hear to help!" And naruto

was

sorta embarrased he was feeling like this but it was super-hard to stay calm right ehind Konan when she wore barbarian fur bikini clothes, but he knew how to be safe when riding ninja ostriches so it was perfectly cool when he wraped his arms around Konan and hugged her teyet so he wuddent fly off, but then eet was even more weirder cuz it was a bumpy ride and they wure going back to Tobi, like strayt at him. And Konan was talked to Naruto, like "I've belieeved in yoo Naruto! I like, hated Tobi too and Eye've been waiting to killify him for ages, with your help that's why I'm wearing barbarian stuff. We're going to get fierce together! I

almost

new how to beat him, but then I remembred you and some stuff." Then like the moon came up b'hind the buring cherry tree, and then it wasl all bumpy and windy and Konan yelled "Hold me tighter, weere about to get off! The Earth!" Then Condor farted fire like a rocket and he flew up off the ground and way up in the spacesky and Konan and Naruto were really tight and shaking together as Condor flew up, and then they both screemed and it sorta felt like it took a while but really it wassent long until was they

ready

to

land on the Moon. They were both swetty and when they got down from Condor Konan said Yes!" We made it! You and me will beat Tobi in a minnet, but first-" and then Konan took off her barbarian clothes and jumped on Naruto and they sexed so hard it made a crater on the MOOn. Konan was reddy to

go

again, but Naruto sed "the peeple in Konoa, myght hear us" but Konan wasl all like "I dont care" and Naruto sed "YUSS!" And then they kissed and stuff and sexed so hard they blew up the moon, then got back on Condor and flew

home.


	16. Oblivion

Sasuke stood at the cliff's edge, the kunai in his hands biting into the necks of Hinata and Sakura. The wind was fierce, whipping around loose strands of hair on their heads. "You can't save everyone, Naruto! You're going to have to make a sacrifice, a choice if you want to be the hero now. And if you refuse to choose, they will both die!"

"Why, Sasuke? Why choose this; is this really your shinobi way?" Naruto struggled against the gale to reach Sasuke.

"No! Come closer and I will kill them both!"

This threat gives Naruto pause, and he ceases his advance for the moment. "No one plans to take this path, Sasuke! We... you were like my brother! We could still walk down the road that leads home!"

Sasuke shook his head, close to tears. "And how many roads must a man walk before he dies? No, this is my revenge... I am the last Uchiha, Uzumaki. I am not afraid to walk this world alone!" He pressed the kunai deeper into the exposed necks of Sakura and Hinata for a moment, drawing blood. "Now, why don't you two explain to your beloved why he should pick you over the other!"

Gulping, Sakura began, "I understand what you meant now, about lieing to yourself. I didn't want to believe you back then, but I know now. I'm not just settling for you because I can't have Sasuke anymore, Naruto! I love you! Even back when I was obsessed with Sasuke there was just something about you, and I couldn't stand you because I thought Sasuke was the one I wanted; and then I started seeing what kind of person you really were, who you became! You're the only one for me Naruto! Please!"

Hinata saw the tears running down Sakura's face, and the pain on Naruto's. The decision wasn't an easy one, but for Hinata it came down to one thing: Naruto's happiness. "Naruto, pick Sakura!" She shouted over the wind. "Just forget about me!"

The wind swept over the cliff, the silence filled with its noise. Suddenly the dark clouds released their burden, the rain drops like tiny hammers pounding down. "Choose, Naruto!" Urged Sasuke. "You have ten seconds!"

With his emotions warring within him, Naruto hurriedly thought back over both pleas. In the end, it was his respect for Hinata that decided it. "...I choose Sakura!"

Sasuke sneered at Naruto, and he whipped the kunai across Sakura's neck, flinging it over the edge of the cliff. He pushed her forwards, and she ran towards Naruto. For a brief moment they held each other, the rain soaking their clothes. Sasuke looked down at Hinata. Although he'd never cared for the girl, she'd been willing to sacrifice herself for Naruto- and even now was calmly waiting with her eyes closed. He dropped the kunai in his left hand and growled, "Go, before I change my mind..." Hinata hesitantly glanced at Sasuke, and then did as he'd suggested.

Striding forwards to meet him, Sasuke came within an arm's length of Naruto; their stares clashed with an almost visible burst of electricity. "...Come home, Sasuke. We're still waiting for you."

"Why? It's not that simple... You don't even know what I've been through-"

"I know about Itachi, Sasuke. And... it- it hasn't exactly been easy for me either. _You_ don't know what I've gone through to bring you back, how hard it was to give up the Nine-Tails to Tobi just to meet you!"

_The Nine-Tails?_ "You were a fool to give it up to him!"

"But that's how much you mean to Naruto!" Hinata said, from Naruto's left. "And, and Sakura's waited for you too, you know."

Nodding, Sakura continued, "You're a criminal to the rest of the ninja world Sasuke..."

"...But to me, you're family." Finished Naruto.

_No, I- I need time... but..._ Sasuke shook his head, and began walking away.

Naruto ran into the wind after him. "Where are you going?"

"Just stay here, Naruto..."

"You won't be coming with us?"

Looking over his shoulder, Sasuke answered Naruto:

"I'll be back."


	17. Someone Like Him

The man who knelt before him had lived a life full of sorrow and triumph, and with a wistful smile Konohamaru Sarutobi decided that it was finally time. He already had summoned the witnesses and others he'd wanted to be here, and the only thing left was to commit the act. Removing his hat and drawing the kunai, he asked the man, "Are you ready?"

Naruto Uzumaki glanced at the others assembled in the room before replying with a grin, "Believe it."

_It's almost like looking in a mirror..._ Konohamaru noted. On more than one occasion Kakashi and others had commented that the man who waited before him was like the older version of himself; always striving to be the best shinobi of his generation, the same determination to be appreciated for who he was- but that wasn't how Konohamaru viewed him, especially in recent years.

Naruto was more like his brother.

Naruto cleared his throat, becoming serious for a moment, and then Konohamaru began. "As we know, it's not so easy to live in the shadows." Konohamaru spoke of their childhoods here, as he now had his face on the side of a mountain and Naruto was at last going to take his rightful place there. "But that will be your solemn duty and way of life from now on. We shinobi live and die in the flash of a blade; that is our sole pupose in life- but even so, we seek that perfect immortality, to be remembered after we die. That is the Will of Fire, which you have now inherited. Naruto Uzumaki of Konohagakure, do you accept this?"

For what seemed like an eternity, but was really only a relatively few short moments, Naruto thought back over his life. The wars he'd fought, emotionally and physically, and the prices they'd exacted from him; all the miles he'd walked, an uncertain destiny carried upon his back; but most heavily upon his shoulders weighed the hopes and dreams of an entire village, and the promise he had made to them; but now that burden would be lightened, his promise and dream moments away from being fulfilled.

"Yes." Trying not to break into a grin, Naruto received from Konohamaru a kunai, and the Hokage's hat was placed on his head. Naruto rose, and embraced Konohamaru. A sly grin crept onto his face, as they had not informed the others attending their next move would be taking place. As cameras were raised to take commemorative pictures, the two called out:

"Sexy Jutsu: Girl on Girl Technique!" The transformations appeared with a puff! of smoke, the cameras flashing as the vapors drifted away from the pose.

"NAAAARRRRUUUTOOOOOO!"


	18. On the Edge

It was a dark, blustery day in the first few days of Spring, and Naruto Uzumaki was walking along the edge of a cliff. Along his current path, he'd been walking out of the shadows, after having wrestled with them for what seemed like an eternity but was really a only handful of seasons. The veil had indeed been pulled from his eyes; and with that burden lifted, he'd begun to rebuild his dreams- all the ones he thought he'd had to put on hold as they fell broken before him- because he knew how the war would be won now.

Not with defeat, but determination.

Which was the cornerstone of his shinobi way. And he knew that with the others who would be waiting for him, he could find the will to do anything. He believed it, breathed it.

So, it was quite the surprise when he saw someone up ahead, a promise... not yet kept. Coming closer, the figure turned to him, surprise briefly flashing in their eyes. They came to within an arm's length of each other, stares clashing with an almost visible burst of electricity.

"Sasuke..."

"Naruto..." The tension built up like the dark thunderclouds overhead, until the downpour had to be released. "...What has Konoha ever done for me? Why would I go back to a place that took my clan and brother away?" Sasuke stared at Naruto, his emotions breaking loose. "Itachi was the one who massacred the Uchihas! ...For my whole life I looked up to Itachi, almost worshipping him! I didn't want to be anything other than like him, defending Konoha as a proud member of the Uchiha clan. But Konoha was too afraid of us, no, they just _had_ to kill us off before we could take control, and all in the name of protecting Konoha's future!"

"I- I knew about Itachi, Sasuke... and, if he was willing to give anything for Konoha, then why aren't you?"

"Because since our ancestors founded Konoha, nothing's changed! We're just trapped in the same cycle of hatred, over and over and over again; and we make a bigger mess trying to break the cycle than anything else!" The clouds unleashed their load, the raindrops falling like tiny hammers, and Sasuke turned back towards the edge. "...I finally realize that now..."

Naruto bit his lip, holding back his reply for a moment before everything burst out. "No, Sasuke, it's just the opposite! Since Madara... everything's changed since then-"

"And what are we now, mindless slaves serving some madman?"

"No, the fight doesn't end here," Naruto said, tapping his temple. "It starts, and ends..." Naruto pointed to his heart- "...Here. Not just in Konoha, but in other villages I've seen people willing to fight- and having to fight- for their homes, not because they're trying to escape some cycle of hate, but because they're just trying to make an honest living! Their grain fields, or temples... family... it's all they have. Konoha hasn't been the same since you left... and then I realized what the only way to fix things was..."

"How?" Sasuke demanded, close to tears. "How could anything matter now?"

Naruto looked up to the sky for a moment, rain drops falling on his forehead. "Come back to Konoha, Sasuke. To the rest of the ninja world you're a criminal, but to Sakura and me, you're still family... and Konoha wouldn't be home without you."

Sasuke faced Naruto, his tears mixing with the rain. _Dammit, Naruto... You, you..._ Suddenly Sasuke spun and walked off, without another word.

"Wait!" Naruto called, as he ran into the wind to catch up. "Sasuke, where are you going?"

Looking over his shoulder, Sasuke said the only thing he possibly could: "Home."


	19. Through Each Darkest Fire

She was the last person I expected to find Naruto in the elegant lounge, Naruto is lying on the couch through it suddenly was not surprised delay Konan. He was surprised by his garment, however, is blue shorts and white high-heeled sandals as appropriate, arms and back and not as revealing as bold flap, four around the navel piercing ass. She does nothing quite soft-spoken and calm, even talking about Naruto.

"Huh So you think now?" Konan will be considered cocktail glass in hand somehow appear. "The truth is that it is. Even Tobi could not start because of a dream now."

"I said, I do not like the sage of six different path?"

"To make matters worse ... I did not have the heart of the wise man of the world slavery." Konan minutes staring before continuing. "Naruto - Naruto - I'll be honest with you here ... you will not be able to defeat him in direct conflict to do everything I want to happen .. I'm dying to stop."

"Death ...? Therefore, we ...?"

Konan went ahead. "No, do not worry .. has been slightly weakened the psychological barriers of Tobi, since the beginning of the fall of the mass unconscious genjutsu and may be the only-" Serene smiling face have appeared on the morning of the past. "Before I die I want that I just had this conversation."

Naruto shame to get into your eyes Konan smiled. "Konan ... I try to feel, I gave up, I see a nine -.. So let the tail, which can meet Sasuke Yahiko and I mean the amount that is known the dream Nagato, and - I. .. I was not strong enough. "

"So I have no difficulty, no one could stop him." Standing, Konan, walk around a glass coffee table, put his arm around his shoulder, taking his martini sitting next to Naruto. "Can not stop the reign of terror has been a very determined man, I need help from other villages and ninja Naruto Seven Nation Army I will be very determined said he could not do it alone." She No struggling to control himself when turning on the fingers of her hair and took a sip martinis, Naruto, the following words waiting to Gangnam. "It's something about you, Naruto ... people to follow you, I believe."

"But ... I am, it's my first Nine - bad enough, takes Tails, I gave up after seeing all my people so they can get in order to better follow? I have a team of seven years, I know everyone ... "

"Naruto, believing in yourself, if you have faith and desire to do so, we have the confidence and trust and loyalty of everyone behind you ninjas are." Gangnam He smiled and gave her a warm kiss on the cheek and then turned to Naruto. She looked into his eyes and laughed before giving a kiss to his temples and his work.

"Stop, Konan!" Naruto is the last self-doubt, came to think, and he told them. "I have to do? Tobi stood up for someone else?"

"... Yes, but ... that have not complied with its light and darkness, and you choose your most powerful ... all of us: .. chosen, the elect." Konan brought down the rest of his martini the glass on the table and began walking toward the door of the room.

Conan is about to open the door as "the last" started Naruto. "This would be a little weird questions, or would not happen as the possession of a fur bikini?"

Konan is the widest smile I had ever seen Naruto left the room.


	20. Dark Side of the Moon

Naruto opened his eyes. By the light coming in from the windows, he could tell it was now morning. In the chair across from his bed, Sasuke was still sleeping, head leaning back and to the left; Kakashi was missing from his beanbag, and Naruto guessed he was the cause of the sounds coming from his kitchen.

Upon throwing back the covers and wandering into the kitchen Naruto discovered that Hinata and Sakura were already up, seated at the table eating bowls of cereal. Kakashi had just finished pouring his bowl of Frosted Sugar Flakes, and set the box next to the Survivor-O's box as he arrived at the table. "Hey guys! Good morning." The others smiled to him as he went to the sink to wash his hands before snatching a bowl from the cabinet and joining them. "So," Naruto began, pouring himself an almost overflowing bowl of Frosted Sugar Flakes. None of the nutty multi-grain cereal he wasn't sure why he kept buying today. "I'm thinking we could visit Ramen Ichiraku for lunch?"

Sakura blinked and looked at Naruto. "Really? We have a huge party with the rest of our old Academy class last night, we've barely started breakfast, and you're already thinking about lunch?"

"Well, at least it means he hasn't changed too much while he was away," Kakashi noted, taking a bite. Hinata nodded her agreement, her mouth full. Naruto grinned goofily and swallowed his bite. At a sound of a door closing, Naruto turned to look and saw Sasuke walking in, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Good morning Sasuke!" They all said, none looking happier he was awake than Sakura. His mumbled reply sounded vaguely like "Hello", but Naruto wasn't sure; and in any case in seemingly no time at all Sasuke was seated with them and munching his Frosted Sugar Flakes as if he'd been sent on an S-Rank mission to do so. There was a few minutes of noisy silence at the small table as Sasuke caught up on breakfast; he looked at Sakura, she looked at Naruto, he looked at Hinata, she looked at Kakashi, and he looked at Sasuke, their shared situation saying more than any of them felt like saying at the moment.

His expression clouding over, Sasuke sighed quietly as he spoke, "...Has Tobi been on the move lately?"

"It's hard to know," Kakashi answered. "But it's been marked there are twelve different countries he's frequently appeared in around the world, likely adjusting for moon phases and time zones."

"Yeah..." Naruto agreed. "I've seen shrines to a giant eye on my way back here... it actually kinda makes sense for him to be seen out in the villages."

"But...?" Sakura prompted.

"But it's actually peaceful out there, and it- it shouldn't be. If _we_ can remember, then..."

"Well-" Sakura started.

"I think it's because they fought for so long, they were just willing to accept peace however they got it." Naruto replied to Sasuke.

"It's a natural thing to do that when you've let people walk all over you like some doormat," Added Hinata, quietly inspecting her spoon.

Sakura smacked her palm on the table. "But it's not really peace if he's just forced it on the whole world, is it?" They fell silent for what seemed like an eternity- but was really only a few short moments- before Kakashi answered.

"That's how the world is: learning to live half a lie, twisting the power of merciless words to endear... the truth's the truth, and it's all you can do just to live with it."

"But it's not how it should be!" Sakura shouted, the Will of Fire showing in her eyes.

"Well, I hate to say it but I don't think we could take him down in a fight," Naruto said. "So how else could we stop him? I- I'm not strong enough to beat him by myself, so what am I going to do, blow up the moon?" He finished, waving his spoon around. His idea was met with the kind of silence you only get once every so often when someone suggests something that's just crazy enough to work.

"Bl- Naruto, are you brain damaged...?" Sakura asked, mouth agape.

"No..." Hinata said, looking from Naruto to Sakura. "He's right."

Kakashi pulled a mobile from his jacket, and hastily dialed a number. "Hello, Shizune? I've got a message for Tsunade I want you to write down..."

**-A FORTNIGHT LATER-**

Tobi opened his eye. He had arrived in the room as expected; Tsunade was skimming through a comically thick binder, pages overflowing with graphs and diagrams and numbers, while Shizune explained a design showing on the projector. He actually had to cough to be noticed.

"T- T- Tobi?" Tsunade stammered, before shaking the surprise out of her head. "What brings you here?"

"An offering of peace. I have yet to extend my... goodwill to Konoha, and I have deemed it a necessary act for I seek to unite _all_ nations in peace."

"That... is very gracious of you." Tsunade replied, a little wary.

"I will give you the greatest gift you could imagine-" Tobi paused, eyeing the other ninja in the conference room, noting the presence of Naruto. "A _choice_. I have mastered a jutsu previously known only by the Sage of Six Paths, and could quite easily give you anything you desire." Though Tobi still wore half a mask over his lower face(now gilded and decorated), Shizune and the others got the sense he was smiling.

As Tsunade opened her mouth again to answer, Naruto's stomach rumbled. "Heh, well right now I could sure eat some-"

"Naruto, quiet." Sighing, Tsunade rubbed her brow. "Tobi, we'll need a bit of time before we-"

"No, I know what we want." Before his Hokage could object, Naruto hopped over the table and scooped up the slab-like binder in front of her. With a grunt he flipped it shut, and presented it to Tobi. "This."

Tobi opened to a random page of designs and diagrams, and continued to browse the exceedingly thick volume quietly prior to announcing, "Three days and it will be ready. Though it's a noble ambition, I do wonder what exactly you hope to accomplish by going into space."

"Be the first shinobi to eat ramen two hundred miles up, that's what!" Naruto laughed and scratched the back of his neck.

_I know he's actually not that idiotic, but at the same time I also know he is obsessed with ramen..._ Tobi sighed, and teleported out of the room.

Tsunade shook her head, then suddenly smiled. "Naruto, how would you like to be the one that lets the rest of Team Seven know the genjutsu training for the launch will start a few months ahead of schedule?"

"Uh, well- I... Eheh..." Naruto glanced towards the door. "Lunch break!"

**-THE TRAINING LAB-**

The shuddering breath escaping from his lips like the soul of a dying man, Naruto closed his eyes and let his body adjust to the end of the training session.

"How was it this time?" Asked Yuugao Uzuki, head of the mission training staff.

"A little bit worse than the last... but I think I'm getting used to it now." He could almost hear Yuugao nod, and then she turned away to make notes in the test log. Relaxing while he could, Naruto cracked open his eyes and saw Yuugao making her notes, quickly moving the pen across the pad in her neat handwriting. He'd been surprised to find that beneath her porcelain mask she appeared fairly young, perhaps only five years his senior; and while she was certainly professional she also was considerate enough to let Naruto rest between administrations of the simulation genjutsu.

Yuugao turned to Naruto, a small smirk on her face. _If it's this effective even against him..._ "I think I may just remember this genjutsu for future use." She chuckled dryly upon seeing Naruto's nervous expression. "Don't worry, you're free to go. And make sure to rest tonight, so you'll be prepared for the launch in the morning."

"Yes ma'am..." Easing himself up out of the dentist's chair, Naruto nodded to Yuugao on his way out from the examination room.

**-DAWN, AT THE LAUNCH PAD-**

With the sunrise behind them, Team Seven walked towards the space shuttle. The wind was fresh and invigorating, there were only a handful of clouds in the sky, and Naruto-

Sakura looked back over her shoulder. "Naruto, _stop walking in slow motion!_" He grinned sheepishly and jogged to catch up, joining them as they neared the elevator to the cockpit.

Hinata Hyuuga watched Naruto and the rest of Team Seven approaching, their orange flight suits just a few shades away from matching the sunrise. She swung her gaze to the shuttle itself: it was unlike anything she'd ever imagined, almost like an odd metallic shark with its fins too far back; and the large cones it was attached to like some newborn creature. The debate over what to name the shuttle had been lively, including Naruto half-jokingly threatening to stay behind if it wasn't named _The Condor;_ in the end even though many more serious names were proposed(_Voyager, Enterprise, Discovery..._) Tsunade overruled the majority vote and declared it would be named _The Utterly Gutsy Shinobi_. Smiling as she now recognized the mural on the side of one of the cones as being ostrich themed, Hinata blinked and turned to maneuver through the crowd as she heard Team Seven walk up.

There were many slaps on the back and shoulders and hugs passed around, Naruto receiving the most. _He's grown a little, during that year he was away... he looks like a man now, just as handsome as I knew he would be..._ Hinata's fond thoughts of Naruto were interrupted by Anko goosing him as he walked by, which made Anko chortle and Naruto fight to keep a straight face. Glancing aside, Hinata saw Tsunade preparing to speak, and quickly slid through the crowd to meet him. "Naruto..."

"Oh, hey, Hinata! Come to greet the first ninja to explore space?"

Hinata smiled with him and answered, "Well, first I have something to give you." Reaching into her hoodie, Hinata pulled out a Konoha forehead protector. Naruto accepted it, immediately recognizing his old forehead protector and noting the metal plate was slightly warm. "It- uh, it..." Hinata began, trying to keep her thoughts focused enough to speak coherently. "It was in a package from the Land of Demons that arrived while you were gone, so... I kept it for you."

"Thanks, Hinata..." Naruto easily tied it in place in a few moments, his fingers still remembering how. Naruto looked back at Hinata, and seeing her luminescent blush and the emotions in her eyes he finally understood; and Hinata seemed to know he now understood too. During his travels he'd seen the love for a country, a love for life itself, but not the kind of love that was right in front of him now.

_I know it's not my place to do it here, or maybe even at all... _Dark forebodings burst through Hinata's mind, knowing that even though Naruto would be coming back he most likely would not be coming back to _her_, and then the dam broke open after what Hinata felt was years too late. She flung her arms around Naruto's neck and pulled him in, kissing him deeply and passionately as if her life depended on it. Naruto's lips resisted Hinata's at first, but after a few quickening heartbeats they softened and parted slightly, Hinata's tongue darting in and meeting his with a touch of electricity that caused her to subtly arch into him and lifted up her left foot. Softly moaning, Hinata slowly dabbed Naruto's lips with hers, as if to sponge up the memory.

Hinata pulled away, her arms still around Naruto's neck; and with a start she noticed several people in the crowd were applauding and cheering loudly. Seeing the Hyuuga girl blush an even deeper shade of red at this, Tsunade coughed loudly. "If I may, I would like to say a few words now, please." The noise swiftly died down, and Tsunade began, "I'm sure that all of us have dreamed of flying like a bird, in the sky or maybe even up to the stars. And what we're about to witness is that dream taking place... but this is more than just that. We were given a choice: we could have lived forever in peace under the watchful eye of a false god, or chosen the Will of Fire and taken a chance at peace each day, not knowing if it might be our last. This! Is! Konoha!" Tsunade said, smacking her fist onto her palm for emphasis. "And we chose the Will of Fire!"

There was a wave of whistles and cheers, and someone shouted, "Damn right we chose the Will of Fire!"

Tsunade nodded, and finished, "Team Seven, we'll be watching the sky. _The Utterly Gutsy Shinobi_ is ready to go." Kakashi led Team Seven forwards, and onto the elevator to the cockpit. A handful of increasingly tense moments later, the lift brought them to their destination, and they stepped into the shuttle. They buckled in and triple check they were hooked up to the oxygen system, Kakashi flipping on a row of switches and pressing a couple buttons. The door slammed shut, and Shizune's voice came over the intercom.

"We have everything ready on our end, Team Seven. Have you finished the checklist?"

"All systems are online and functional," Kakashi answered.

"Excellent. I'll begin the countdown now." Overhead a timer blinked on, slowly but surely counting backwards from ninety-nine.

"I almost can't believe this is happening," Sakura said. _77... 76..._

Sasuke and Kakashi turned their heads to Naruto. "Believe it..." He said, completely serious. _64... 63... 62..._ Their hearts racing, they watched the timer tick closer and closer to zero. After what seemed like an eternity, but was really less than a minute, they felt a deep rumbling at their backs.

"White Fang to base; we have liftoff." The next nine minutes were spent roaring into space, the blue sky melting away and giving way to a thousand points of light. The extreme G-force of the launch ceased, a wonderful sensation as the weightlessness of space took over. Still they accelerated, their trajectory calculated perfectly for them to fall into orbit with the moon. Already it loomed before them larger than they'd ever seen it before.

"Well, the hard part's over now. Who's ready for some ramen?"

"Naruto!"

But several hours later, Naruto had his ramen. "It kinda different in a pouch like this," And the others had to agree; with the noodles and sauces floating up out of the packets sometimes it was an oddly entertaining task to snatch at the noodles and twirl them through the free-floating sauce before eating, and then suck up the extra fluids with a straw.

Not long after, it was time to rest. As the lights were switched off and the shutters slid closed, Sakura glimpsed the last few twinkling heavenly bodies disappearing from view, wondering what the planet she had left behind looked like from their point of view; what all the friends and family she'd left behind were thinking of her now. _Lady Tsunade, Ino... Hinata- she..._ Though she certainly felt _something_, Sakura couldn't quite name the emotions stirred up in her chest at the memory of Hinata and Naruto's kiss. _True, I really do feel like I love him, and yet... Sasuke's back. I'd be lying to myself if I said that didn't make me happy..._ Naruto's face was calm, already fast asleep. _Maybe I could just float over there, give him a kiss... and see if- if anything feels different then..._ But then she saw Sasuke's sleeping face, and closed her eyes with a sigh.

Precisely eight hours later, the lights came back on. Sasuke's eyes flickered open, and Sakura heard Naruto's sleeping bag being unzipped.

"Are we there yet?" He asked, stretching and yawning.

Kakashi shook his head. "No, but we're close. Another ten or fifteen hours before we come into orbit." He pulled his mask back up, looking to each member of his team. "The plan."

Sakura spoke first. "When we're in range, I'll deploy Naruto's pod." Kakashi still looked to her. "Oh! Of course, after we're at the appropriate point in orbit." He nodded, and looked to Sasuke- they all knew what Naruto would be doing.

"As soon as Naruto's finished, I'll summon him back to the ship."

Kakashi nodded. "I'll continue piloting, and bring us back towards Earth."

"...Hey, just a thought, but if I'm going to be blowing up the moon shouldn't we be taking pictures of it? Y'know, for like posterio- posteri- for future generations?"

"Already taken care of," Answered Kakashi. "There's also a camera in your pod, if you want to take pictures once you land."

"Of course!" Naruto laughed, scratching the back of his neck. "The only ninja to have their picture taken on the Moon? There's no way I'd pass up the chance for that!" Then, true to form, Naruto's stomach growled, signaling it was time for breakfast; which would be bars with the same nutrients and stimulants as the food pills ninja normally carried in the field. They were chewy and a bit sticky in the mouth, but were surprisingly delicious, and eaten fast.

The hours took their time passing by, lingering for far longer than they normally would have. The minutes and seconds slowly followed behind, slipping away quietly when they could remain no longer. It was literally an unearthly experience, seeing the lunar dusts so close yet still far beneath them.

"Go fish," Sasuke said, and Naruto drew a card from the cloud floating between the three of them.

"Aha! I got-"

"Time to get into position, we're nearing the point." Kakashi interrupted. Hurriedly, Sakura and Naruto pushed off and floated to their places. Several switches were flipped, and dials turned, and Sakura buckled up in her seat. She glanced back, and saw Naruto changing into his space suit, a puffy white thing with a large pack on the back and a dome-like helmet. And as the helmet was locked in place, Sasuke floated over and checked to make sure it was properly sealed. In any case, there was a special last measure sealing jutsu to be used on the suit, which Sasuke was performing now. It shimmered over Naruto, before fading down to a barely noticeable sheen.

"We'll have to finish the game when we get back," Naruto said, referring to their hand of Go Fish.

They all chuckled, but the... gravity of the situation set in. "Naruto..." Sakura began.

"We believe in you." Sasuke finished. Naruto nodded, and made his way to the landing pod. Moments later the door to it closed behind him, and soon after that his voice came over the intercom.

"Ready to go,"

"Alright. We're a few minutes from the area, but that's the absolute cutoff point for your departure," Kakashi replied. "Sakura?"

She shivered, and pushed a button. "Countdown beginning now." This one was much shorter than the launch, only thirty seconds; but still it seemed to take forever. Naruto closed his eyes as the last ten seconds passed, and felt a sudden jolt.

_Here we go..._ The booster rockets firing to slow and guide his descent, the landing pod floated towards the surface of the moon like a wayward cherry blossom. "Approaching one hundred meters," Naruto relayed to the shuttle.

"Okay," Sakura said, intently focused on guiding the pod down safely. _Fifty meters, twenty, there! There!_ "He's landed!" Sakura beamed, and relaxed slightly.

"Good job, Sakura!" Came Naruto's voice into the cockpit. _Where's the...? Ah, there you are._ Finding the tripod and camera in a compartment marked with a camera symbol, Naruto quickly read the instructions and unbuckled himself. "Alright guys, I'm heading out." Pressing a few buttons, the pod door silently opened out and down, forming steps. Cautiously he walked down them, and onto an alien landscape of gray rocks and dust. And then, he looked up, the sight wiping any previous thoughts from his mind. Hanging in the sky above the horizon was the Earth, shining like a blue and green gem, with white clouds swirling over the surface. He stood motionless, aware he had a view none before or after him would ever know. _Iruka-sensei, Konohamaru, Gaara, Hinata... they're all down there somewhere..._ Naruto smiled, thinking of how Hinata's eyes sometimes reminded him of moons; and wondered if she was watching now. _...I bet she'll be waiting for us._ Their kiss came to mind, and though he knew now how Hinata felt, the kiss seemed more as if she was saying _goodbye_ than _I love you._ With that in mind, it made sense _why_; and in that moment he respected Hinata more than anyone else he'd ever known. His resolve strengthened, Naruto nodded and set up the tripod, carefully placing the camera on top. First, he took a picture of the horizon with the Earth in view, then pressed the timer and skipped a few yards away to stand in front, doing the Nice Guy pose. "Got the pictures."

"Took you long enough," Answered Sakura's voice.

"What?"

"There's a compartment, lower right corner of the pack." Came the voice of Kakashi. "It should slide open and you can put the camera in there." Gloved hands fumbling around for a minute, Naruto at last managed to get the compartment open, switch the camera to his right hand, and stow it inside.

Skipping away from the pod further, Naruto glanced back. _I guess this is as good a spot as any._ He sighed, now feeling the full weight of the Konoha's and the whole world's hopes upon his shoulders. "Get ready, Sasuke. I'm about to start..." He recalled the proper feel he need for the technique he had in mind, eighty percent black chakra and twenty percent white. By an enormous stroke of fortune, only the body of the Nine-Tails was extracted by Madara- Naruto still had access to Kyuubi's chakra, which we was beginning to do. Drawing on the Beast's chakra from the place he'd sealed it away within himself, Naruto was enveloped by what seemed to be yellow flames, and two blazing chakra arms grew from his shoulder. The white and black chakras rapidly spun around each other and began to mix between those arms, starting to weigh Naruto down- but far less than they would have on Earth. The lower gravity would allow for an incredibly absurd amount of the dense chakra to be used in the technique, an amount large enough to indeed blow up the moon. There were multi-colored sparks flying away as the forming Tailed Beast Rasengan came into contact with the sealing jutsu, and at the size of a beach ball it was nearly as difficult to hold up as the smaller version he trained with as Kage in the Land of Greens. Still he struggled to keep it up, knowing it would need even more. Showered with sparks as the sealing jutsu on his space suit reached its limit, Naruto sank down into the surface of the moon under the immense weight of the globe, which was now almost as large as he. Muscles screaming, Naruto knew he had to slam down the Rasengan now or be crushed under it and destroyed. With a scream of his own, Naruto leaned forwards and pushed the Tailed Beast Rasengan into the moon. "SASUKE, _NOW!_"

Just as the ball sank into the moon, with a pop! Naruto reappeared inside the shuttle, and Sakura breathed heavily as she looked up from activating the barrier ninjutsu around the shuttle. Though there was no back window to the ship, the light from the explosion flared through space, and the shuttle rocked and shuddered as pieces of what had once been the prison for the Ten-Tailed Beast flew past it. The most frightening moments of Team Seven's lives were then, not knowing if the barrier ninjutsu would hold up, but sooner than they'd expected the rumbling ceased, and the screens showed all the the barrier ninjutsu and systems were in one piece.

Then, Naruto laughed, simply glad to be alive.

After the rigors of re-entry and a splashdown in Ame's lake, Team Seven drifted to shore in an inflatable raft. There was a crowd of people waiting for them, several families and individuals eyeing them cautiously.

"Are you an alien?" A young boy asked Sakura, before his mother could quiet him. "Cuz you fell down from the sky."

Sakura opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off by Naruto, who was speaking in an odd voice and doing a strange pose. "We have come to conquer the Earth and enslave mankind! Take me to your-" And Naruto in turn was cut short by Sakura, who elbowed him in the ribs. "Agh- aw come on, that was a once in a life time prank, I had to go for it!"

"No, we're not aliens," Sasuke helpfully explained to the boy.

_Although I do wonder about Naruto sometimes..._ "See?" Sakura said, kneeling down to the child's level. "We're wearing Konoha forehead protectors. How would an alien have them?"

"Well, if you say so..." The boy said, still not entirely convinced. His parents chuckled nervously, as someone made their way forwards through the crowd.

"Team Seven?" It was a familiar woman's voice, and after they made it to the front of the crowd it was seen the voice belonged to Shizune, who turned back and called, "It's them!" The crowd from Ame parted, Tsunade herself walking forwards. Not far behind were Team Eight and Iruka. It was hard to tell who ran towards them first, but soon Naruto found himself in the center of a group hug, next to Hinata and Tsunade. Touched by the scene, the Ame villagers joined in, and Naruto began to cry.

But it was not to last. At the outer edges of the big group hug, someone shouted, "He's here!" Gradually the hug loosened and pulled apart to reveal the "he" that was approaching: Tobi.

"...Can you even begin to understand what you've done?"

"Yes," Naruto answered defiantly. "And I think-"

"It doesn't _matter_ what you think! The whole world- the _whole world_, you hear- was on the brink of a new golden age, and you saw fit to abuse my generosity and end a peace that this world has never seen before?" Tobi's glare speared into Naruto, pinning him in place. "I tolerated you this long because you helped me achieve my plan, but I cannot ignore this! My benevolence can't last forever-"

"That's exactly it! It _wouldn't_ last forever, Tobi; yeah you're pretty powerful but you're still just a human like the rest of us! ...And I already knew your control was slipping." Tsunade and the other Konoha ninja appeared shocked at this claim, while Tobi narrowed his eyes at Naruto. "Your mass genjutsu; it was beginning to kinda crack open, and your inner thoughts were starting to leak into it..."

"Isn't that the whole point of genjutsu?" Tobi asked slyly.

"Maybe. I don't really know much about it, but then I realized that someone like you wouldn't reveal a weakness in their own technique."

Tobi began to breathe heavily, still staring at Naruto. "...So has the curse of hatred touched you too, that you would do this?"

"It's not hatred... it's determination. Eventually, it wouldn't have been a world of peace, Tobi... it would have been a nightmare."

"But do you see what you've done with your freedom? Look back on history, and you'll see that you deserved every moment of it! Every time, over and over again, you chose vengeance; a never-ending cycle of hate! And you all made more of a mess trying to break the cycle than anything else!"

Naruto shared a glance with Sasuke, and replied, not quite sure where the words were coming from. "It didn't have to be me that did this, Tobi. Someone somewhere would have realized what was going on, and tried to stop you, and they never would have rested until they ended up silencing you."

"Oh? And how?"

"Well," Naruto wiped his eyes on the sleeve of his flight suit. "A funny thing about justice is that it always comes when you least expect it." He leveled the full weight of his gaze at Tobi's eyes. "But you know what? I'm not here to defeat you. You already found a way to end the wars and make the world a little better." Motiong for his teammates to follow, Naruto began to walk past Tobi back to Konoha but abrubptly stopped. "And maybe you'll find another way..." Then he continued on, the rest of the Konoha ninja following behind.

**-Konoha-**

Walking along the dusty road, his sandals kicked up small puffs of dirt, lightly shading his exposed toes. Sighing contentedly, Naruto recalled the beginning of the conversation he'd had shortly before coming to the place.

_"Come in," Tsunade called. Naruto walked into her office, and up to the Mission Assignment Desk where she waited. "Naruto, I have some news..."_

_"Has Madara...?" Naruto asked carefully._

_"No, it's not that. I've- well, first... I want to show you something." Focusing for a moment Tsunade dropped her disguise, revealing her true, aged, appearance. "There. Take a good look, 'cause you'll only see me like this once. Now, Naruto, I've thought about this for some time, and have made a couple decisions. First, I'm promoting you to a Chunin; you've earned at least that much. Second, you'll be undergoing intensive training: in taijutsu and covert operations with Yuugao Uzuki, every day of the week. General ninjutsu training with Kakashi, every day of the week. And, limited medical ninjutsu training with myself twice a week. All this in addition to any training you already do on your own."_

_"B-b- are you trying to kill me, Granny Tsunade?"_

_"Just the opposite. Because, you see, I'm going to die." Naruto's face fell, and he began apologizing. "No, not now- and hopefully nowhere in the near future either." She allowed herself to smile now. "It's because when I do die, someone's going to have to be Hokage..."_

"We're here," Sasuke said.

Looking up and smiling at Sasuke and Sakura, Naruto opened the door to Ramen Ichiraku...


	21. Bonus Material!

****Author's Note**** And now a break from the Mind Screw and my fairly average writing. This bonus content pack will explain a few things- a _few_- and provide the "Director's Cut" of a certain chapter. So, how I will do the explaining is by walking through a list of all the references. Yes, an actual list(and not a short one), because they provide themes I wove into the story. Won't count the self referencing.

*deep breath* Beginning with **Written in the Stars**:

1. The ending was a Star Wars reference, in there for no other reason than a crude punchline. :)

2. "...Is the world suddenly too large for one so small?" Deffo too good for me to think up on my own. This one came from the Bleach fanfic Understanding.

**Your Decision**: I wanted these first few chapters to have iconic themes and lines in them, to help get things going. So, I thought of the most melodramatic Naruto moment I could come up with... which is this scene. If you didn't skip ahead from a certain point to this, you'd have noticed the theme was the one that resurfaced the most, and was one of the most important.

1: Chapter title itself is one here, being a song by Alice in Chains.

2. "No one plans to take this path!" Refence to the lyrics of Your Decision.

3. "And how many roads must a man walk before he dies?" Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy movie reference.

4. I had Rorschach in mind when I wrote the end of the chapter. Different yes, but I think it'll still count.

5. "I am not afraid to walk this world alone..." This was a reference to the MCR song, Famous Last Words.

**Perfect Cherry Blossom**: I wanted to tease several ships here, and this chapter was the first time I focused on that. Heheh, I'll probably never write an explicit love scene, and this chapter will be about as close as I ever get. Um I meant- crap. Ahem...

1. OCRemix #1569, 'Icy Peaks'. Song in question is from a Touhou game titled... you guessed it... Perfect Cherry Blossom. Fell in love with the remix, just beautiful.

2. In the poem, the above game gets another nod.

3. "A thousand points of light" Sorry, George Bush Sr. But I had to.

4. "Their lips meeting like a splash of warm water" Lifted from the Read or Die english manga translation, where the author girl(Hey, it's been a while, okay?) was searching for a way to describe a kiss.

**Lucky Number Seven**: Some unintentional irony here, as chapter _four_ has "lucky" in the title; also a nod to the anime where Konohamaru dreams of becoming Hokage after Naruto.

1. "Live and die in the flash of a blade" Who doesn't love some classic Iron Maiden? A reference to their great song "Flash of the Blade".

**The Sound of Music**: This scene could be two completely different things, depending on how you read it. I intentionally wrote it one way with the other in mind; see Perfect Cherry Blossom notes. (_;) The Michael Savage quote is random, yes, but I thought it seemed right to stick it in the author's note.

1. You've been living under a rock if you don't get the chapter title reference.

2. First paragraph sees another nod to the title.

3. "Those thousand points of light" Sorry, President Bush. It just comes too easily. Uh, I mean- crap... *sigh*

4. "An age that seemed to be an eternity- but in truth was a comparatively short moment-" A line from my fanfic _World Gone Mad_, shamelessly reworked and spliced into this chapter.

5. "...trees by the brook," Stairway to Heaven reference number one...

6. ...aaaaaaannd the entire last line of the chapter is the second.

7. "...those celestial lights a dear memory..." Reference to the forthcoming Wheel of Time book, _Memory of Light._

**Snakebite Letter**: A key chapter if you're trying to puzzle things out, the first of number of similar ones. Also one of my personal favorite ones.

1. _The Snakebite Letters_, written by one Peter Kreeft. Simply done for the title, but you might check it out for a change of pace.

2. "The blood called to them, precious and sweet." Derived from this Blind Guardian lyric: "It's calling me 'Saidin', so precious and sweet", from their song Wheel of Time.

3. Anko's dialogue to Naruto is almost all from one song, by Project 86: Hollow Again. The first nod: "So, this is how it is now... but it's too late to stop it..."

4. "All we fought so hard to keep, it's all... we couldn't save..." The second.

5. "But... how can we open the eyes of the dead... when we're so empty ourselves..." The third...

6. "I've watched you Naruto. I understand, and I know how hard you've tried." Might as well admit I was listening to Manny Pacquiao's cover of "Sometimes When We Touch".

7. "So I guess this is the way the world ends..." ...and the fourth.

**A Toast to My Former Self**: By now, I knew where I would take the Your Decision theme. I rather shamelessly copy-pasted the first half of this chapter.

1. Beginning to notice a theme? Chapter title is a _double_ Project 86 reference, once for the title itself, and twice for being the same track/chapter number.

**Chimes**: Another chapter in the same vein as Snakebite Letter, this was another ship tease. Now, I wasn't quite sure what to do about the training, but... Naruto keeps his promises. (_;)

1. Chapter title is the same as another Project 86 song.

2. "You don't have to get up for me." I had one of Ryan Seacrest's many gaffes in mind here. Try looking for it on Youtube.

3. "...the pain there calling to turn and leave to come back to Konoha..." A reference to the- SURPRISE!- Project 86 song "Sad Machines". The song comes VERY highly recommended.

4. "The wind chimes sounded, soft and subtle..." Pretty sure you know who my favorite band is now. A reference to their song, "Chimes".

**The Wind and the Wheat**: A chapter of similar importance to the previous one. About a filler village, but it featured another promise from Naruto so I say it's fair game.

1. Phil Keaggy fan here. Chapter title is a reference to one of his instrumentals, "The Wind and the Wheat." Lovely piece that I think captures the view of the Land of Greens from the cliff top in music. Listen to it!

2. "...Like a warm scene from a memory." Dream Theater lyric and album reference here, it of course being Metropolis(parts one and two).

3. "The blood of innocents crying out from the soil..." A Genesis 4:10 reference here.

**Memory of Light**: One of another series of chapters, also important in supporting the ending of the story.

1. I've never read the books, but the chapter title is a Wheel of Time reference, Memory of Light being the title of what's supposed to be the last book in the series.

2. "Like arrows in a bloody war the tears began to fly," Shameless self-promotion here, this is taken from my song "Thunder in the Desert Lands pt. 1"

3. "...like a demon hungry for Heaven." Dio is one of my vocal heroes, and this was a reference to his song "Hungry For Heaven".

4. "The terror of the moment ripped a thousand holes in the sky, the blood of the universe leaking through..." George Bush Senior would cry if he knew I used his phrase like this. I merely smile and *teehee*.

5. "Naruto's soul felt weaker, and as he looked up into the eyes of a demon it seemed like those eyes knew- and had been waiting." A reference to Dream Theater's epic "In the Presence of Enemies(pt. 2)" from the section titled "Salvation".

6. "It started break dancing: powerful spins, surreal threading and contortions..." An off-handed reference to my fanfiction _The Land of Funk_, where Madara stars in a break dancing battle.

7. "Naruto, help me train..." A reference to Shion's wish in Chimes.

8. "For what seemed like an eternity, but was really a few relatively short moments..." Get used to seeing it.

9. "Calling him to turn and leave... pointing and showing the way." Another Sad Machines reference, leading into...

10. "...To come back to himself." A reference to the Project 86 song Subject To Change.

11. "...drifting up on the breeze, and straining to hear its echoes at long last the tune came to Hinata." The third Stairway reference.

12. "...memory of the lights..." Another WoT book reference.

13. "...from the vulgar display of power..." Weren't expecting a Pantera album reference, were you?

**Open Hand**: *phew* But I'm only half-way done. Again, I copy-paste the first half of the chapter from Your Decision.

1. The _second_ double Project 86 reference, the chapter title being the same as a song and having the same chapter/track number.

2. "What if I told you there's a better way? Would you come home if you knew the way?" If you're taking a shot for each of the Project 86 references, I'd stop now or switch to water. This one's a nod to their song "Twenty Three".

3. "...like pain inside a lonely heart, the lightning cracked the sky." Another Thunder in the Desert Lands lyric.

**Twenty Three**: Another of my favorite chapters, this one is perhaps the most important of the scenes similar in style to it.

1. Thematically, and I swear this was unintentional at the time I wrote it, it references the Octavarium and Dream Theater's "The Answer Lies Within" lyrics. Especially sweet for me considering it's place in its series and a later reference.

2. The third Project 86 double reference, in the same manner as the others.

3. "...long ago distilled the merits of the path less chosen into pure poetry..." Robert Frost ref. FTW.

4. "Such a pen those same odes were written with appeared the cruelest blade to Naruto at times, twisting the power of merciless words into endearment." Zing! Although the vocals are a bit too harsh for me, I've always liked the lyrics of "All We Had" by Daylight Dies, which this is a reference to.

5. "With clenched fist and clenched teeth Naruto spoke the words burning in his heart..." Another _All We Had_ nod.

6. "For what seemed like countless ages- but was in truth only a reasonably short spin on the axis-" Another twist on the phrase from _World Gone Mad_.

7. "Naruto trod along, a pain in his heart pointing and showing the way." Yet another reference to Project 86's "Sad Machines".

8. "Praying the words would reach him at last..." An oblique reference to Stairway to Heaven, again.

9. "Being almost made him sigh that he existed, but he couldn't escape this." It's not my favorite song by them, but Sad Machines is an absolute classic.

10. "...roared out the only words he possibly could: 'IT'S MY LIFE!'" Bon Jovi reference here, as well as...

11. There rest of the paragraph is a ripped from the Harry Potter fanfic _Phoenix's Life_ and adapted to this.

12. "...the passion, glory and splendor..." I saw this in an ad on WWE's website a couple years ago after WM XXV, I think it was for commemorative t-shirts.

13. "...A thousand points of light danced in Naruto's vision as he fell backwards..." :D Here's some tissues, H.W.

14. "...which fork in life's true path will..." A reference to my favorite weapon name of All Time: Fork in Life's True Path, from the online game Adventure Quest, a very shiny and cool looking trident.

**Familiar Taste of Poison**: What I did here was simply weave Anko into the background of Perfect Cherry Blossom. After the madness of Twenty Three, I think it has a good place in the story.

1. The chapter title is a reference to the Halestorm song of the same name, especially fitting because of the content of both.

2. "A full moon and a starry sky, a thousand points of light..." lol

3. "...they had found each other again, in spite of- or perhaps because of everything..." A reference to my greatest fanfic, The Secret Pokedex. xD lol Read it to see where it pops up there.

4. "...that because you're Hokage now I'll just lie back and think of Konoha..." A wink to the British phrase and urban legend(?), "...Lie back and think of England."

**Deep Mountains**: Essentially it's The Sound of Music, but a slightly different tune: the cherry blossom motif is used to indicate Sakura. Bush Senior gets a break here.

1. Again, the title is a Touhou game reference, this one being the stage in Perfect Cherry Blossom whose theme is remixed way back up top in "Icy Peaks".

2. "...listened to the sparrow, the tune coming to them at last." Another Stairway lyric reference.

**On the Backs of Angels**: I apologize for the Down Syndrome reference; I originally planned to make it looked like my account had gotten hacked with this chapter but I left out the obvious trolling signs. Also contains some important self-references and foreshadowing. In my notes, this one was marked, "Point two, craziest." *nods* Yeah... yet even so it contains my favorite reference in the fic:

1. "Join me and we could rule the world together as distant relatives1" A reference to that infamous scene from Star Wars. You know the one.

2. The opening clause and overall style of this one were a reference one of my best fics, "The War of Wars".

3. hehehee... "...tossed himself off this cliff nex'to a sign that sed 'Dont mess with Konoa'" Here, I'm talking about an omnipresent slogan in my home state: "Don't Mess With Texas"

4. "So Narooto jumped over The Edge who was playing With or Without You..." Quite possibly the worst pun of my entire life. But I LOVE IT. U2's pretty nice, though I don't listen to them often.

5. "Cause... my broski..." Zack Ryder mark here. Woo woo woo, you know it!

6. The full quote from above: "Iam willing to let that [crap] slide cuz yuri my broski..." Not a fan of the yuri genre at all, (well, in anime and- never mind), but the extra I just kinda happened. I left it in.

7. "...Foshizzleth... Fie, tHIS pimpingeth hath not been..." Another wave and hello to The War of Wars.

8. "to chewse between the pleasure and the Pain, I now it's wrong and I know its rite..." In my opinion, Brent Smith of Shinedown did Not Strong Enough the best, which this was a reference to.

9. "But Naruto was hanging over The Edge..." Too good to use just once. Teehee!

10. "We are bowth desinded from the Sage of Six Paths!" Another refrence to that scene from Star Wars, along with...

11. "Seach you feelings you now this to be troo..."

12. "...Then naruto's hand was slipping it was like sum knightmare that kept getting wurse..." Double reference here; this is a reworking of the second phrase from World Gone Mad I sneak into everything, as well as a reference to the Code Geass piloted robots which are known as knightmares.

13. "...but then The Edge swung his guitar..." Don't sue me, U2.

14. "...Konan riding towards him... dressed like a barbarian." Think about it... Konan, barbarian clothes... a Conan the Barbarian reference! If you haven't guessed it by now, yes I _AM_ that lame.

15. "...waiting to killify him..." Killify is a word I first used in World Gone Mad.

16. "...it sorta felt like a while but it reely wassent long..." No, World Gone Mad's not my favorite of my fanfics, but I love slipping in those two phrases.

17. And lastly, the chapter title is a reference to the Dream Theater song of the same name.

**Oblivion**: The last reworking of the Your Decision theme, this one rewards all your patience as it ends on an up note. I tweaked a few words in the first half _after_ I copy-pasted it.

1. Thematically, it cross references with Twenty Three's Octavarium reference, due to this lyric from, of course, Project 86's song Oblivion: "You think _The Answer Lies Within_, when your heart betrays you?" I like this one and how it further enforces the complex emotions at play- if you're following all this, of course.

2. "I'll be back."

**Someone Like Him**: A switcherroonie puts Naruto in Konohamaru's shoes here, though it of course still ends the same way.

1. The title is a reference to a section of the Dream Theater magnum opus, Octavarium. Again, I like this in how it teases there's a never-ending cycle at work.

2. "For what seemed like an eternity, but was really..." Sorry, couldn't help it. :/

3. "...all the miles he'd walked, an uncertain destiny upon his back..." A slight tweak on a lyric from a School Rumble fic of mine: "An uncertain destiny, carried for miles upon my back..."

4. "...In the flash of a blade..." Copy-pasted and tweaked, so the Maiden reference is still there.

**On the Edge**: The final fulfillment of the Your Decision theme, this was satisfying to write.

1. The chapter title is another reference to the Octavarium album, taken from a Panic Attack lyric: "All wound up/ _On the Edge..._" Also kinda hints at where Naruto is in the Octavarium.

2. "It was a dark blustery day in the first few days of Spring..." A reference to the beginning of one of my favorite book series, the Mortal Engines Quartet, almost word for word like the first sentence.

3. "...he'd been walking out of the shadows..." A reference to the Manowar song "I Believe", specifically the lyrics: "From the darkness, I walk into the light ... from the shadows, I will appear"

4. A double reference with "...after having wrestled with them..." First is to the Bret Hart documentary "Hitman Hart: Wrestling With Shadows", second to my School Rumble fic Soldiers of Innocence, to this lyric in it: "Wrestling with the shadows, for my place in the light..."

5. You knew it was coming: "...for what seemed like an eternity but was really only a handful of seasons."

6. "Not with defeat, but determination." A reference to the great As I Lay Dying song, "The Blinding of False Light".

**Through Each Darkest Fire**: I have no idea who the heck Gangnam is, and don't want to guess at their gender. Heh this chapter was fun to write, one because of Google Translate, and two because of Google Translate. It came out of the wringer "better" than I could have hoped for. In my notes, it was marked "point two craziester". :)

1. The title is another reference to an Octavarium lyric, again hinting at what Naruto is struggling with inside his Octavarium- if he _is_ inside one.

2. Seven Nation Army is title dropped, seemingly in an odd spot...

3. Not intentional, but Reign of Terror too- I'm most familiar with the Rhapsody of Fire song, but there's also a Sabbaton song with the same name.

4. "...have the faith and desire ... have the loyalty and trust..." Another reference to the same Interval in Octavarium as the one the chapter title refers to.

5. "...the elect, the chosen one..." Shamelessly ripped word for word from my song of the moment, Heroes of the Waterfalls' Kingdom, by Rhapsody of Fire. The line in question comes right before the part. You'll know the one if you listen.

**Dark Side of the Moon**: Whew, one big chapter. My favorite part of the whole story, this is where everything comes together. The World Gone Mad and Bush Sr. references, it's all in here. Now, the Hinata and Naruto kiss wasn't planned. lol just like real - ahem. It just kinda grew from the spot in the chapter where Hinata gives back Naruto's headband. The resulting ripples that sent through the fic's waters of romance were tough to deal with, because as I'm sure you guessed I have no two-sided experience in that area. *crack knuckles* Alright, here we go:

1. Of course, the chapter title itself. No prize for guessing which album it references.

2. Frosted Sugar Flakes: a fictitious brand of cereal from World Gone Mad. The breakfast of champs!

3. Survivor-O's: another fictitious cereal, this is a reference to the beginning of Disturbed's "10000 Fists": 'Survivo~r, [oh]' Geddit?

4. "...how the world is; learning to live half a lie..." A reference to the lyrics of Kristina Perri's(sp?) song Jar of Hearts, continuing into...

5. "...twisting the power of merciless words to endear..." Another reference to All We Had's lyrics.

6. "The truth's the truth, it's all you can do just to live with it..." A reference to Dream Theater's Twelve Step Suite, and thereby also an oblique Octavarium reference. The song this is paraphrased from is part four, Repentance.

7. "Bl- Naruto, are you brain damaged...?" Kinda a twisty reference, as the PF album is named Dark Side of the Moon, which is also a lyric in the song... Brain Damage.

8. "M-M-M-Ma... dara?" It went from simple stuttering to that awkwardness when I realized I could hammer a Poker Face reference out of it. But... *sigh*

9. "...more serious names were proposed(_Voyager..._)" The ship name is the first reference to Star Trek in that sentence...

10. "_Enterprise..._" With this being the second.

11. "..._Discovery)_..." To finish out the references to _other_ works in the sentence, here's nod to the real life space ship.

12. "Dark forebodings burst through Hinata's mind..." The first Brain Damage reference in the sentence...

13. "...the dam broke open after what Hinata felt was years too late." The second, with a slightly tragic twist. Hinata+Naruto kiss!

14. "This! Is! Konoha!" Konoha, not Sparta.

15. "...and giving way to a thousand points of light." I think this is the last of the George Bush Sr. references.

16. "It doesn't _matter_ what you think!" Naruto's lucky he didn't get a taste of what The Madara was cooking.

17. The last external reference in the fic goes, of course, to Project 86 and their song _Solace_. "A funny thing about justice is that it always comes when you least expect it."

18. "After what seemed like an eternity, but was really less than a minute..."

**And Now,** I present the special edition of a previous chapter. What you're about to see is the original English, before I put it through Japanese, Welsh, Spanish and back to English with Google Translate, and before Kishimoto screwed with us big-time.

**Though she was** the last person Naruto expected to see in the stylish lounge, Naruto wasn't surprised by Konan suddenly appearing, lazily leaning back on the sofa across from him. He was, however, surprised by her dress: form-fitting blue pants and white high-heeled sandals; a daring robe with no back or arms and little on the side, parting above her belly button and revealing four piercings around it. She spoke, her calm and even voice doing absolutely nothing to calm Naruto.

"So you think you're ready, huh?" Konan took a sip from a martini glass that had inexplicably appeared in her hand. "The truth is, you're not. You couldn't even begin to dream of what Madara is capable of now."

"He's like another Sage of Six Paths, isn't he?"

"Worse... because the Sage didn't have world enslavement in mind." Konan looked away for a minute before continuing. "Naruto, I'll be honest with you here... you won't be able to defeat him in a direct confrontation. As much as I would like it to, it won't happen. I myself died trying to stop him."

"Died...? So, we're...?"

Konan leaned forwards. "No, don't worry; this is only possible because Madara's mental barriers are subtly weakening, and his subconscious mind is beginning to leak into his mass genjutsu." A gentle smile appeared on the former Akatsuki's face. "I just wish we could've had this talk before I passed away."

Naruto felt shame coming up in him at the sight of Konan's smile. "Konan... I'm sorry. I did my best, but I gave in and let Madara take the Nine-Tails from me, so I could meet Sasuke. I know how much Yahiko and Nagato's dream meant to you, and I- I... I just wasn't strong enough."

"I couldn't stop him either, so don't take it too tough." Standing up, Konan walked around the glass coffee table and sat beside Naruto, putting an arm around his shoulders and sipping from her martini. "I said you couldn't do it alone; so you'll need the help of Konoha and the other ninja villages. One very determined man might not end Madara's reign of terror, but a very determined seven nation army could." Struggling to control himself, Naruto waited for Konan's next words while she sipped from her martini and twirled a finger through his hair. "There's just something about you, Naruto... people will follow you, they'll believe in you..."

"But... i- it was bad enough I was the Nine-Tails' host at first, but after I gave it up to Madara how could I get all those people to follow me? I might be able to get Team Seven with me, but I don't know about everyone else..."

"Naruto, if you believe in yourself and have the faith and desire to do it, I'm confident you'll have the loyalty and trust of the whole ninja world behind you." Konan smiled again, then leaned in and gave Naruto a warm kiss on the cheek. She gazed into his eyes, then chuckled before giving him a quick peck on his temple and standing.

"Wait, Konan!" The last of Naruto's self-doubts came to mind, and he voiced them. "Does it have to be me? Couldn't somebody else have stood up to Madara?"

"...Yes, but... they would have failed. You have met darkness and light, and _you_ chose... you are the most powerful of us all: the elected, the chosen one." Konan downed the rest of her martini, and set the glass on the coffee table, and began to walk towards the lounge's door.

"One last thing," Naruto began, as Konan was about to open the door. "This is kinda a pervy question, but you wouldn't happen to own a fur bikini, would you?"

Konan smiled wider than Naruto had ever seen her before, and left the lounge.

**So that's everything!** If you read through it all I hope you enjoyed it.

Hugs and Kisses and Best of Wishes,

~Uskius


End file.
